Tiger Sky Tower closed until further notice

Tiger Sky Tower at Sentosa Island here is closed after 39 people, including 4 children and one operator, were stranded for more than four hours on Saturday evening.

In the Saturday's incident which happened around 5.30pm, the Sky Tower which can take 55 passengers at any one time, had stopped at the 30m mark as it was ascending.

"Please note that Tiger Sky Tower is closed until further notice," said the Sentosa website.

In its final update on Facebook Saturday, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the passenger cabin of the Sky Tower was mechanically brought down to the ground level at about 9.45 pm.

"There are no reported injuries," it said.

Channel NewsAsia reported that Sky Tower would work with the Building and Construction Authority to decide when it would get the operating permit to continue the operation of the attraction.

"We have taken the decision to suspend the ride until we really know what happened, so that we can ensure that the attraction will (continue) to operate very safely," Director of Sky Tower, Alexander Melchers, was quoted as saying.

At 131 metres above sea level, panorama views across Sentosa and Singapore's southern islands as well as neighbouring Malaysia and even Indonesia can be seen from the Sky Tower's seven-minute ride.

It is dubbed as Singapore's tallest observatory tower.

This will be the third time the Sky Tower ride has to be closed with the first two happening in 2010.

-- BERNAMA