Power Supply Problem Shuts Dubai Tower

February 9, 2010
By Allison Landa, News Editor

A month after the At the Top observation deck opened at the world’s tallest man-made tower, a malfunction at the deck has shut the tower to the public.

Tourists on the 124th-story deck, which is located at the 2,717-foot tall Burj Khalifa, found themselves stranded on Saturday for more than an hour due to what officials at the building called “technical issues with the power supply” in a statement. The tower is slated to reopen on Feb. 14.

The $1.5 billion Burj Khalifa officially opened on Jan. 4 and is located near Dubai’s main business district. In a statement released Jan. 6, officials at the tower said that “an estimated crowd of 400,000 gasped in amazement as fireworks erupted and searchlights beamed from every platform of the tower.”

Burj Khalifa general manager Thomas Dempsey also said in the statement that the views from the tower were comparable to those from the air.

“The panoramic views are like those from an airplane,” he said. “Such is your height above ground.”

The Associated Press reported that at the time of the malfunction, visitors heard a sound like a small explosion and then saw dust seeping through an elevator door. According to the AP, there were 15 people trapped in the elevator and 60 more stranded on the observation deck.