Base jumper leaps off top of Eiffel Tower before being arrested
A man climbed 330 metres to the top of the Eiffel Tower and parachuted off before being arrested on Thursday morning, French media have reported.
At 5:40am on Thursday, a man climbed the east pillar of the Eiffel Tower and then parachuted off the top of the monument around 7am, according to French news channel BFMTV.
The man, whose identity has not yet been made public, reportedly landed at the nearby Émile Antoine stadium before being arrested and taken into police custody.
A police source told AFP the man was 24-years-old and climbed the east pillar with a backpack.
According to reports, there was no damage to the famous monument and the man was not injured.
Police sources told BFMTV that charges have been filed against the man for "endangering the lives of others" and for trespassing.
According to the French media Actu17, security services for the Eiffel Tower's operating company, Sete, said they "detected the man's presence in less than a minute".
"This kind of irresponsible action puts people working at or below the tower in danger," Sete added in a statement.
Despite attempts to intercept the man prior to scaling the Eiffel Tower and to convince him to come down, the man reportedly still chose to base-jump (parachute from a high fixed point).
The opening of the monument, which normally occurs at 9am, was delayed on Thursday morning.
In the past week, there have been multiple disruptions at the Eiffel Tower, including a false terror threat that forced an evacuation on Saturday and two days later, an incident involving two drunken Americans who evaded security and spent the night inside the tower.
Each year, an average of 7 million people visit, making the Eiffel Tower one of the most tourist sites in France. In 2022, as Paris began to regain visitors following the Covid-19 pandemic, 5.9 million people visited the monument.
READ MORE: Eiffel Tower: 13 things you didn’t know about Paris’ Iron Lady
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At 5:40am on Thursday, a man climbed the east pillar of the Eiffel Tower and then parachuted off the top of the monument around 7am, according to French news channel BFMTV.
The man, whose identity has not yet been made public, reportedly landed at the nearby Émile Antoine stadium before being arrested and taken into police custody.
A police source told AFP the man was 24-years-old and climbed the east pillar with a backpack.
According to reports, there was no damage to the famous monument and the man was not injured.
Police sources told BFMTV that charges have been filed against the man for "endangering the lives of others" and for trespassing.
According to the French media Actu17, security services for the Eiffel Tower's operating company, Sete, said they "detected the man's presence in less than a minute".
"This kind of irresponsible action puts people working at or below the tower in danger," Sete added in a statement.
Despite attempts to intercept the man prior to scaling the Eiffel Tower and to convince him to come down, the man reportedly still chose to base-jump (parachute from a high fixed point).
The opening of the monument, which normally occurs at 9am, was delayed on Thursday morning.
In the past week, there have been multiple disruptions at the Eiffel Tower, including a false terror threat that forced an evacuation on Saturday and two days later, an incident involving two drunken Americans who evaded security and spent the night inside the tower.
Each year, an average of 7 million people visit, making the Eiffel Tower one of the most tourist sites in France. In 2022, as Paris began to regain visitors following the Covid-19 pandemic, 5.9 million people visited the monument.
READ MORE: Eiffel Tower: 13 things you didn’t know about Paris’ Iron Lady
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