DUBAI - 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. Witnesses who were on the 124th floor observation deck at the time and a Dubai rescue official recounted on Tuesday the chain of events that led up to the shutdown in interviews with The Associated Press. Emaar Properties, the state-linked company that owns Burj Khalifa, has said little about the incident and nothing about an elevator malfunction. It had no comment Tuesday. It remains unclear what caused the elevator to the observation deck ��" the only part of the building that was open ��" to fail. Michael Timms, 31, an American telecommunications engineer who lives in Dubai, was on the observation deck with his cousin Michele Moscato when the ordeal began. "It almost sounded like a small explosion. It was a really loud bang," Timms said. It would take another 45 minutes for rescue crews to arrive and pry open the elevator door, he said. From what he saw, the elevator's roof looked to be about where the floor should have been, so rescuers hoisted a ladder into the shaft to help those trapped inside crawl out. Some were clearly shaken. "One lady I saw ... she didn't say a word," Timms said. "She just looked shocked and dazed, then walked directly to the wall and sat down on the floor." Abu Naseer, a spokesman for Dubai's civil defense department, said the call for help came in around 6:20 p.m. Saturday evening. Emergency crews used another elevator to reach the observation deck and were able to rescue all 15 people in the elevator unharmed, he said. The incident was the latest to tarnish the international reputation of Dubai, one of seven small sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates. 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. Emaar, which owns the 2,717-foot (828-meter) building, has not responded to specific questions about the incident that led to the shutdown or made anyone available to speak despite repeated requests by the AP. Local newspapers reported the shutdown on Monday but it was still not clear exactly when the building was closed.
