A man has been arrested in Paris after jumping off the Eiffel Tower with a parachute and landing in a nearby stadium.
The man, an experienced climber, entered the tower’s perimeter shortly after 5am (4am BST) on Thursday, well before its official opening. He was quickly detected by guards, according to the site’s operator Sete, but still managed to get to the top before anybody could stop him, carrying the parachute in a backpack.
Once he got near the top of the tower, which is 330 metres tall, he jumped and landed nearby where he was arrested for endangering the lives of others, police said.
“This kind of irresponsible action puts people working at or below the tower in danger,” Sete said in a statement.
The Eiffel Tower is the French capital’s top tourist spot, and attracted 5.9 million visitors in 2022.
The tower’s opening, usually at 9am, was slightly delayed due to the incident, Sete said, adding that it had filed criminal charges against the man.
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Last week, the Eiffel Tower was evacuated twice on the same day following hoax bomb alerts and on Monday, two inebriated American tourists were found sleeping off a heavy night in the heights of the tower, having dodged security the night before.
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