Bomb threat briefly closes Eiffel Tower

Updated 2:41 p.m. ET

PARIS - Paris police say a bomb alert at the Eiffel Tower has been lifted and the monument is being reopened to visitors.

Police and tower officials said a suspicious package and phoned-in bomb threat prompted the Eiffel Tower to evacuate nearly 4,000 tourists from the Paris landmark on Wednesday.

A police official said a thorough check of the site found no explosives, and the alert was lifted.

Tourists were allowed back on the sandy plaza beneath the tower after a little more than two hours, and the ticket office is being reopened.

A Paris police official said nearly 4,000 tourists were evacuated from the site after an anonymous caller warned that the Paris monument would be blown up at 1700 GMT. Other officials at the tower site then spotted a suspicious package on the ground-level plaza.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying the situation is still being investigated.

The site is occasionally evacuated because of threats. In the most recent major incident, a similar bomb threat caused the tower to be evacuated last September.

The tower is France's most popular landmark, drawing more than 6.6 million people last year.