Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Visitors on the observation deck of the world's tallest tower heard a loud boom, then saw dust that looked like smoke seeping through a crack in an elevator door 124 floors above the ground. The 15 people inside were trapped for 45 frightening minutes until rescuers managed to pry open the doors.

Because the elevator was apparently stuck between floors, rescuers had to drop a ladder into the shaft so those inside could crawl out. On the observation deck, about 60 more people were stranded and some began to panic.

Shortly after the drama unfolded on Saturday evening, the half-mile-high Burj Khalifa that was supposed to be one of Dubai's proudest achievements shut down to the public just a month after its grandiose opening. It was the latest embarrassment for the once-booming Gulf city-state that is now mired in a deep financial crisis.

It remains unclear what caused the elevator to the observation deck — the only part of the building that was open — to fail.

In recent years, Dubai boomed on borrowed wealth that went into extravagant real estate projects such as islands shaped like palm trees and rows of striking new skyscrapers.

Then the financial crisis hit and real estate prices plunged to half their value in a year. The government and many state-run companies struggled to pay their bills — debts that surpassed $80 billion. Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital and Dubai's oil-rich neighbor, pumped $20 billion in bailout funds to rescue Dubai.

In a nod to the bailout patron, the tower originally known as Burj Dubai was renamed Burj Khalifa for the emir of Abu Dhabi and UAE president Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The surprise renaming was announced at the lavish opening ceremony on Jan. 4.

Visitors to the observation deck use dedicated elevators that whisk them from the base to the 124th viewing floor in about a minute.

The tower was designed by Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which has a long track record engineering some of the world's tallest buildings, including Chicago's Willis Tower, the tallest in the U.S. formerly known as the Sears Tower.

The tower rises more than 160 stories, though the exact number of floors is not known. The tapering, silvery tower ranks not only as the highest building but also as the tallest freestanding structure in the world.

The observation deck, which is mostly enclosed but includes an outdoor terrace bordered by guard rails, is located about two-thirds of the way up.