Eiffel Tower to don rainbow colours after Orlando killings

PARIS — The Eiffel Tower will be lit up on Monday night (June 13) in the rainbow colours of the gay community in solidarity with the victims of the Orlando shootings, Paris city hall said.

“Paris is with Orlando. Tonight, the Eiffel Tower will be illuminated in LGBT colours in homage to the victims,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted.

City hall will also fly the US flag, the Stars and Stripes, as well as the rainbow flag, Ms Hidalgo said, expressing her “compassion, solidarity and affection” for the American people after the massacre.

On Monday morning, Paris councillors observed a minute of silence for the victims of the nightclub attack, in which 50 people were killed.

The French football team also tweeted a message of support, along with a picture of a ribbon combining the colours of the US and rainbow flags.

“Sometimes football counts for little. Thoughts for #Orlando,” said the team which is among 24 competing at the Euro 2016 championships in France, adding in English “Together we stand”.

The planned tribute at the Eiffel Tower recalls the global show of solidarity with the French after the jihadist carnage in Paris in November.

In the aftermath of the attacks, monuments from One World Trade Center in New York to the Sydney Opera House in Australia were lit in the colours of the French flag. AFP