KUALA LUMPUR: Selangor police have recorded statements of 118 individuals to assist in investigating the gas pipeline fire in Putra Heights, said Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan.
He said 15 of them were contractors, sub-contractors, and workers involved in excavation and sewer pipe installation at the explosion site.
“An inquiry paper has been opened to determine whether there are any criminal elements related to the incident,“ he said at a press conference at the incident control post in Putra Heights today.
He said police re-excavated the sewage pipe route made by a contractor company and found that it was laid at a depth of 2.1 metres from the existing road surface.
“Further inspection found that the contractor’s excavation work did not exceed three metres along the road, with a trench width of 1.5 metres. The excavation and installation work covered more than 30 metres and is believed to have been planned for further extension,“ he said.
Hussein said the road, which crosses the Petronas gas pipeline, had been approved for excavation work to be carried out by the contractor.
For the purpose of the investigation, his team is using three excavators, a bulldozer, and a backhoe to carry out the digging works, which are still ongoing, to examine the Petronas gas pipeline, believed to be located at a depth of between six and seven metres.
According to him, the police, Petronas, the Public Works Department (PWD), the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (JUPEM), the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Air Selangor, and the contractor are monitoring the excavation work.
“The police found that the gas pipeline is located at a depth of 5.6 metres from the road surface, meaning the distance between the sewage pipe and the gas pipeline is 1.6 metres. The physical condition of the gas pipe does not show any noticeable disturbance.
“At this time, whether the excavation works carried out by the contractor had affected the pipeline cannot be determined until the entire gas pipeline in the area is fully exposed and further investigation is conducted,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Hussein said that as of noon today, 642 police reports were received, including one report stating that fireworks were set off by certain individuals on the night of Monday, March 31, before the incident occurred the following morning (April 1).
“...the police do not see (the likelihood) that the incident at that time could have caused the explosion the next morning... nevertheless, we are still waiting for the full investigation report,“ he said.
When asked about the identity of the contractor company, he explained that, at this stage, the incident has not been classified as a criminal case, so there is no need to reveal any party’s name.
“The current focus is on the scene of the incident, not on revealing who is involved, because this is still under investigation. We have not classified it as a criminal act, so it is being investigated under a police inquiry paper, where the police have the authority to summon individuals for questioning and obtain statements.
“So, we cannot accuse anyone or link their actions to the cause of this incident,“ he added.
The Petronas gas pipeline fire that broke out at 8.10 am on Tuesday saw flames soaring over 30 metres high with temperatures reaching 1,000 degrees Celsius. The inferno took nearly eight hours to extinguish fully.
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