Eiffel Tower Temporarily Closed Due to Illegal Climber

Paris is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, but the city's tallest attraction was closed Monday when a man was caught climbing the outside of the Eiffel Tower.

According to The Associated Press, security officials did not say how the daredevil got past them, but the Eiffel Tower was closed temporarily as police and fire rescue teams arrived at the scene and prepared to rescue the man.

Firefighters in red scaled the structure and sent down a climbing specialist from the highest segment to an area of the building above the third segment where the man was standing, as seen on social media through posts via Twitter:

There's a man currently climbing the Eiffel Tower

@Reuterspic.twitter.com/l6HYXIPzJE

- Elliot Wagland (@elliotwagland) May 20, 2019

A climber is pictured between two iron columns of the #EiffelTower in #Paris. The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors after the man tried to scale it today. #Paris Michel Euler/AP/Shutterstock pic.twitter.com/XTW4DjxKFs

- Shutterstock Editorial (@ShutterstockNow) May 20, 2019

Police said the motivations of the climber remain unclear and there was no definitive timetable for when the Eiffel Tower will reopen.

The 1,063-feet-tall tower has seen its fair share of people trying to climb it illegally over the years, including a British man named James Kingston who climbed the entire structure without safety ropes and permission in 2015.

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