Forty visitors and two park rangers were forced to take the stairs down the Washington Monument on Tuesday after an elevator got stuck at the 280-foot level.
“All visitors inside the monument at the time … were safely evacuated without incident,” said Mike Litterst, a public affairs officer for the National Park Service. There were 19 people on the elevator and 23 at the observation level.
The monument, measuring 555 feet, will remain closed until the elevator has been inspected and repairs are made, Litterst said. Elevator technicians were on site Tuesday afternoon.
In 2011, a magnitude-5.8 earthquake caused extensive damage to the structure. After a $15 million, nearly three-year repair job, the monument reopened to the public on May 12, 2014.
The nation’s capital is in the midst of the popular National Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs through April 17.