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Washington Monument Elevator Stops Working Again

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Monument has been closed again after its second elevator outage in two days.

The National Park Service says 23 people were escorted down the stairs from the observation level after the elevator stopped working on Wednesday afternoon. No one was on board the elevator at the time.

The park service says technicians are trying to determine the cause and making repairs, and the monument won't reopen until Thursday at the earliest.

The elevator also malfunctioned on Tuesday night, leaving 63 people on the 500-foot observation deck. Firefighters had to help a few people get to the bottom of the structure, including two pregnant women who were carried in chairs.

The monument has 897 steps. Elevator problems have forced it to close several times in the last few years.

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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