Dubai: Dubai’s Ferris wheel, touted as the world’s largest, has mysteriously stopped turning just months after opening. Called Ain Dubai (Dubai Eye), it was designed as a tourist-luring landmark in the United Arab Emirates’ glam-hub, which is home to the world’s tallest building.
The reasons have not been disclosed. Its extravagant light fixtures seem to be the only parts seemingly still working, AFP reported.
“Ain Dubai remains closed until further notice,” says an official website for the attraction.
“We continue to rigorously work on completing the enhancement works that have been taking place over the past months.”
The wheel was supposed to close for just a month but its reopening has since been postponed indefinitely.
The Dubai Eye, built by a consortium of international companies, is located in Bluewaters, a man-made island designed as a retail, residential and entertainment hub. For more than a year, the main entrance to the attraction has remained closed and ticket booths abandoned. Only a slow trickle of tourists visit the site, snapping pictures of LED lights mounted on its exterior, the report added.
The Dubai Eye stands at a height of 250 metres (825 feet), each of its legs the length of 15 London buses, according to Dubai’s tourism department.
Nearly twice as tall as the London Eye, it is the largest of its kind in the world.
Its 48-passenger cabins, all of them air-conditioned, can carry around 1,750 passengers on a single ride. Ticket prices range between 100 dirhams (about $27) and 4,700 dirhams (about $1,280), with luxury passes and private cabins on offer.
The giant wheel, made of more steel than the Eiffel Tower, features prominently on the list of Dubai’s top tourist attractions.
They include the Dubai Frame monument and Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
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