The Eiffel Tower was completely evacuated on Friday, Aug 9 afternoon, following a bomb alert, Reuters reported citing a police official.

The 324-meter-high (1,062-foot) iron tower was evacuated around 2 pm (8:30 am ET). The police official could give no further details.

Built in 1889 and one of the world's most recognizable monuments, the Eiffel Tower sees some 7 million visitors each year and up to 30,000 a day in the peak summer season.

It is regularly subject to bomb scares but these threats are usually quickly found to be hoaxes and only cause full evacuations a couple of times a year.