Eiffel Tower suffers shutdown over pickpockets

 

The Eiffel Tower shut down for six hours because of a staff walkout in protest against a surge in pickpocketing gangs.

Workers say the gangs are increasingly threatening them with assault or abuse.
The company managing the major tourist attraction ''thanked the public for its understanding'' and said it "regrets that visitors... are being punished".
About seven million people go up the tower every year. The tower reopened on May 22,2015 Friday afternoon.

A similar closure took place in April 2013 when the Louvre art gallery disappointed hundreds of tourists by closing down after staff complained of being spat at, abused and even assaulted by pickpocketing gangs.
More police were sent to protect the museum, which is visited by 10 million tourists every year.