UK police closed the area around Big Ben in London on Saturday after a man holding a Palestinian flag climbed up the tower housing the famous clock and bell.
The man had ascended several metres (feet) and was perched barefoot on a ledge of the historic structure, whose official name is Elizabeth Tower, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
Crowds looked on from beyond a police cordon, while emergency vehicles were deployed in the area and Westminster Bridge was closed.
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Police said they were first alerted “to a man climbing up the Elizabeth Tower at the Houses of Parliament” shortly after 0700 GMT.
At around 1000 GMT an emergency team used a fire truck lift and a megaphone to try to speak with the man.
But he was still there several hours later.
“Officers are at the scene working to bring the incident to a safe conclusion,” London’s Metropolitan Police force told AFP.
“They are being assisted by the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service.”
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