Visitors to the Statue of Liberty experienced a frightening false alarm on Wednesday. Park officials claim the statue was evacuated as a safety measure after a sensor in an elevator falsely indicated smoke.

National Park Service spokeswoman Mindi Rambo says it was a false alarm despite what detector indicated.

However, several people walked out of the Ms. Liberty at about 1:50 p.m. Some came down the equivalent of about 15 flights of steps.

As visitors waited they were given history of the building by rangers and were able to explore the island.

Source:Associated Press