Friday, May 29, 2009

Jaya Supermarket Collapse: 4 dead, search on for 3


PETALING JAYA: Another body was recovered from the rubble of the collapsed Jaya Supermarket building at 4pm on Friday, taking the death toll to four.

Indonesian Annuaruddin, 38, was the excavator operator and was found trapped under the machine, said OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamed.

Early Friday morning another body - that of Muhamad Maskur, an Indonesian national aged 31, - was found at 3.30am pinned under a concrete slab in the car park.

On Thursday, after the building collapse, Alsuki Nahru, 58, and a yet to be identified man were the first two victims recovered.

He said that rescue personnel were trying to get to three more workers trapped under the debris of the collapsed Jaya Supermarket located by search dogs and a scope.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said the trapped workers were near the bodies pulled from the rubble earlier.

He told reporters after visiting the site that rescuers were being hampered by the large amount of debris.

"I would like to get an explanation from the contractor involved in the demolition on the methods the company has used.

"I am going to put a working paper on this incident. A task force will also be formed to probe the collapse involving the local council, police and the Fire and Rescue Department," he said.

On Thursday, the building collapsed at 5pm while demolition work was going on, killing four Indonesian workers.

Two other workers were pulled out alive.

Bernama reported Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Lajim Ukim as saying that initial investigation indicated that overloading caused by heavy machines used in demolishing the former Jaya Supermarket building may have triggered the collapse.

He said eight heavy demolition tractors were in the building when the incident occurred.

Meanwhile, the Selangor government has issued a stopwork order on the project site.

This is to allow the Department of Occupational Safety and Health and Public Works Institute of Malaysia (Ikram) to study and report on the incident.

"The stopwork order is for seven days from today," Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said when asked to comment on the incident after chairing the Selangor Economic Action Council meeting, here, Friday.

Meanwhile, in Petaling Jaya Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said in a statement Friday that the building collapse was another stark reminder that safety at the workplace should not be taken for granted.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) chairman stressed the importance of carrying out risk assessments before construction work was done.

“The collapse of the old Jaya supermarket building highlights once again the consequences of not implementing good occupational safety and health practices at the workplace.

“It is sad that it takes another tragedy for people to realise what is going to happen if one takes safety at the workplace for granted,” he said in a statement Friday.

“Proper risk assessment is the most fundamental issue of commitment to safety. Unless and until this issue is addressed, accidents such as this will continue to happen in the future,” he said.

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