Faulty lift shuts world's tallest tower

A FAULTY lift was behind the shutdown of the observation deck on the world's tallest tower that effectively closed Dubai's half-mile-high Burj Khalifa to the public, it emerged yesterday.

Visitors who were on the viewing floorat the time said they heard a loud noise, then saw what looked like smoke but turned out to be dust seeping out of the crack in one of the lift doors.

Emaar Properties, owner of the 2,717ft-tall building, has revealed few details about the incident since closing the observation deck indefinitely.

It remains unclear what caused the lift to fail.