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Paris was thrown into chaos this afternoon when a topless prankster forced the Eiffel Tower to be evacuated just hours before the city’s showpiece Olympics closing ceremony.
The blonde, shirtless man was filmed scaling the 1,000ft-tall landmark above the first viewing deck and the Olympic rings that adorn the second section of the monument.
Flustered visitors told MailOnline today how they were quickly ushered down the tower’s stairwell by emergency crews as they detailed chaotic scenes.
It came as footage emerged of a topless man being led away in handcuffs by police, before turning to the person filming and saying, in what appears to be a British accent, ‘it’s bloody hot, innit?’.
The shirtless man was seen scaling the 1,083 foot (330 metres) tower this afternoon
It came as footage emerged of a topless man being led away in handcuffs by police, before turning to the person filming and saying, in what appears to be a British accent, ‘it’s bloody hot, innit?’
Police escorted visitors away from the area at around 3pm and the entry beneath the tower has been closed.
Some visitors were briefly locked on the second floor but were allowed to exit around 30 minutes later.
Video footage posted to social media shows the man climbing up the tower next to the blue Olympic ring, although it is unclear where he began his ascent.
It was unclear where he began his ascent, but he was spotted just above the Olympic rings adorning the second section of the monument
The man pictured with his legs dangling from the tower
Gavin Harris, 47, who is in Paris with his wife Sharon, 45, daughter Tia, 13, and his two 11-year-old sons Archie and Jasper to watch the Olympics, were on the tower when it was evacuated and said ‘it all lasted for about an hour’.
He told MailOnline: ‘Me, my wife and my three children were on the tower when they made everybody get into one room and then slowly put us in the stairwell to go down the stairs.
‘The situation was unclear at the beginning and the anxiety levels with the children, and the adults was quite high, with police and security running everywhere, closing areas, we got divided as a group at one point.
‘We were divided because my wife, Jasper and Tia had gone to the summit and we didn’t know that obviously we were going to be locked down in the different areas on each floor.’
Police evacuate the area around the Eiffel Tower after a man was seen climbing the historic landmark
French police guide people away from the tower as the deal with the incident
The closing ceremony is set to begin at the Stade de France in the Saint-Denis area, well away from the Tower, at around 9pm.
More than 30,000 police officers have been deployed around Paris and beyond to watch over the last Olympic events and Sunday’s closing ceremony.
France’s interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, said about 3,000 police officers will be mobilised around the Stade de France, and 20,000 police troops and other security personnel in Paris and the Saint-Denis area will be mobilised late into Sunday night to ensure safety on the last day of the Games.