Paris turned off the lights of the Eiffel Tower at 12:45AM on Saturday to pay tribute to the victims of the attack in Egypt’s Minya that left at least 28 people dead.

The symbolic blackout of the monument was announced by the Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Friday, May 26  night from her Twitter account, Efe news reported.

Hidalgo lamented that the Christian community in Egypt was again the target of a barbaric and cowardly attack, adding that her thoughts are with the victims and their families.

On Friday night, the Eiffel Tower was shut down from 12.45 am (local time) as a sign of sympathy to Egyptian Copts, said her second tweet.

Built to the west of Paris in 1889, the Eiffel Tower is one of the most visited monuments in the world and one of the characteristic views of the city.

The last time the monument’s lights were turned off was on May 23, in tribute to the 22 persons killed and dozens wounded in the terror attack in Manchester, United Kingdom.
Condemning the attack, French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian said: “I condemn in the name of France with the utmost firmness the cowardly and barbarous act that plagues Egypt. No one should fear for his life by exercising the fundamental right to freely practice his faith.”
(source: NDTV)