Tallest skyscraper closes its doors
Electrical problems were partly to blame for the closure of the Burj Khalifa's viewing platform – the only part of the half-mile high tower currently open. But a lack of information from the spire's owner left it unclear whether the rest of the largely empty building – including dozens of elevators meant to whisk visitors to the tower's 160 floors – was affected by the shutdown.
The indefinite closure comes as Dubai struggles to revive its international image as a cutting-edge Arab metropolis amid nagging questions about its financial health.
The Persian Gulf city-state had hoped the 2,717ft Burj Khalifa, which juts like a silvery needle out of the desert and can be seen from miles around, would be a major tourist draw.