Hours before the Olympic closing ceremony on Sunday, July 31, Paris police told the BBC that a man had been arrested for scaling the Eiffel Tower.
The man had been spotted doing so at approximately 14:45 local time (13:45 BST), and police had intervened and taken him into custody right away.
No further information about the man’s nationality or motivation was immediately available. Videos on social media show the man scaling the tower while wearing no shirt.
In another video, the man is escorted away by police, hands cuffed behind his back, and says to a bystander: “Bloody warm, innit?”
The Associated Press reported that French police evacuated the area around the Eiffel Tower during the incident, while CNN also reported the tower was evacuated, citing police.
The BBC has not been able to independently verify any evacuations or whether they were still in place at 16:00.
The Eiffel Tower was the centrepiece of the grand finale of the Olympics opening ceremony, but was not expected to feature in the closing ceremony later on Sunday.
