A fire near the Eiffel Tower should NOT be treated as suspicious

At times of crisis it is important to stick to the facts.

With the terrible news of at least 30 fatalities resulting from a truck being purposely driven into a crowd in Nice, there is a lot of misinformation going around.

This is partly due to panic and the need to find out as much information as possible about what’s going on, but also a result of some irresponsible and at times purposely misleading reporting.

Many people have seen images of plumes of smoke billowing around the Eiffel Tower, and there have been false suggestions that the Parisian landmark is on fire, or even under attack.

But the local police are keen to stress that it is nothing to worry about and that a small accidental fire close to the Tower is being dealt with. It is Bastille Day and there are a lot of fireworks being used in the city.

There is enough real tragedy and horrendous news coming out of Nice without adding to it with false scaremongering.

#14juillet Suite à un incident technique un camion avec des artifices est en feu pont d'Iéna. Evitez la zone. Intervention des pompiers

— Préfecture de Police (@prefpolice) July 14, 2016

Ne propagez pas de fausses rumeurs. Aucun incendie à la #TourEiffel. Un incendie accidentel de camion a eu lieu pont d'Iéna. Il est éteint.

— Préfecture de Police (@prefpolice) July 14, 2016