The observation deck on the 124th floor of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, Dubai, has been forced to close to the public due to "technical issues" a month after it opened.

Owned by Emaar Properties, the US$1.6bn (£1bn, €1.2bn) building stands at more than 800m (2625ft) tall and opened on 4 January, but will now remain closed for an unspecified amount of time. In a statement, Emaar Properties said the closure of the attraction was caused by "unexpected high traffic" since its opening and "technical issues with the power supply".

However, The Times has reported that visitors to the Burj Khalifa's observation deck had to be evacuated by a service lift after one of the public lifts broke down, stranding passengers for 45 minutes. According to the newspaper: "Visitors queueing to descend from the observation deck heard a crash and the sound of breaking glass from the lift shaft. Dust then billowed back into the room through the small gaps in the lift shaft doors.

"The 15 passengers inside the lift were left stranded for 45 minutes before they were rescued by staff who dropped a ladder into the shaft and helped them to climb out to the observation deck."