SUBANG JAYA: The police, today, confirmed that an excavation work was being carried out at the development in Putra Heights prior to the explosion there earlier this week.
According to Selangor Police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan, an excavator used at the project has also sank into the hole of the explosion.
He said that the excavation work was being carried a day prior to the incident, whereby an excavator and a backhoe was used.
“The explosion had caused a massive sinkhole at around eight meters deep and 70 meters (wide) diameter.
“The initial landscape structure of the site was impacted by the explosion. The site is not stable at the moment,“ Hussein told a press conference at the disaster’s command centre at Jalan Harmoni, Putra Heights, today.
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According to the Selangor top cop, there are three gas pipelines underneath the explosion site.
“One of them broke and caused a big explosion,” said Hussein.
He, however said that further investigations are needed to identify whether the excavation works being carried at the project site is the cause of the explosion.
Hussein said that due to the instability of the affected site, a full report to find the cause of the tragedy is only expected to be made public two weeks after April 15.
“Currently the focus is to stabilise the explosion site and to take out the excavator that sank,” he said.
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He also confirmed that no bodies were found at the site at press time, adding that no missing person reports were lodged due to the incident.
“So far 56 witnesses including the victims and also the contractor have been called to record their statement,” he said.
One key witness – a security personnel at the shoplot project – has also been identified by the police, added Hussein.
On April 1, a catastrophic gas pipeline explosion in Putra Heights wreaks havoc, with some 200 houses affected by the inferno.
The blaze which occurred at 8.10am on Tuesday affected a total of 1,254 people from 308 families.
Eighty-seven homes were completely destroyed and rendered uninhabitable, while 148 homes sustained damage but are still livable after repairs.
