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Dubai: World’s Tallest Tourist Attraction Closed as Elevator Falters

No Comments | February 10th, 2010 | Trackback

A month after it opened amid fireworks and fanfare, the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, closed when sightseers going to the 124th floor observation deck got trapped for 45 minutes in a malfunctioning elevator. They and others already on the observation platform were evacuated in a freight elevator. The building, a metaphor for Dubai’s meteoric rise, now appears to be mirroring the emirate’s dramatic financial fall, where property values dropped 50 percent during the worldwide economic crisis. The observation deck was the only floor open in the building as work continued to prepare for tenants coming in March. Agents were selling tickets to the observation deck for the week of Feb. 15, but officials gave no assurance that the tourist attraction or the elevator to get there would be reopened by that time.