World’s tallest skyscraper suddenly closes

Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

The world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, opened amid heavy hype a month ago. But all is not well at the Burj. The skyscraper’s owners, Emaar Properties, just announced that they are indefinitely closing the property. The sudden news is a shock.

Why was the most well-known construction project of 2010 shut down, less than 60 days into the new year?

It turns out that tourists visiting the Burj’s observation deck had their worst fears come true. The elevators to the observation deck suddenly started spewing smoke and tourists were trapped on the observation deck. Guests were stuck on the observation deck without any way to get down for more than an hour. We’ll put it this way: rescue crews had to use ladders to reach stranded patrons on the 124th floor:

Michael Timms, a 31-year-old telecommunications engineer from the US, said: “I was walking around the observation deck when I heard this really loud noise and what looked like smoke or dust coming out from one of the elevator doors. There were at least 60 people on the deck at the time. Employees and security staff were telling people that everything was ok. But once it became clear we were not being allowed back down, some people got really angry while others started crying.”

Timms added: “Civil Defence, paramedics and the police all arrived on the scene. One of the elevators had not reached all the way to the 124th floor and I saw some people climbing a ladder from the elevator up on to the observation deck.” Timms said they were given an offer to return for free.

Let’s go back to the last paragraph of Timms’ testimony for a moment: Tourists visiting the world’s tallest skyscrapers were stuck in a broken, smoke spewing elevator more than 100 stories above the ground for more than an hour.

Emaar Properties says the shutdown is “routine”:

In a brief statement responding to questions, the building’s owner, Emaar Properties, blamed the closure on “unexpected high traffic”, but then suggested that electrical problems were also at fault.”Technical issues with the power supply are being worked on by the main and subcontractors and the public will be informed upon completion,” the company said, adding it is “committed to the highest quality standards at Burj Khalifa”.

This is the second elevator problem for the Burj recently. Several days ago, fourteen people were trapped for an hour in a stalled observation deck elevator that broke down at more than 1400 feet into the air.

A reopening date for the skyscraper has not been announced, but the Burj’s website is currently selling observation deck tickets for February 14th. Hey, we imagine that being stranded in a smoke-spewing observation deck could be pretty romantic for Valentine’s Day.