T
Taigong Wang
Guest
Published: Tuesday January 4, 2011 MYT 2:49:00 PM
Overloading believed to have caused Brickfields building floor to collapse
KUALA LUMPUR: Overloading from heavy machines placed on the fifth floor of the Bank Rakyat building under construction in Jalan Ang Seng, Brickfields, is believed to have caused the floor to collapse late Monday.
In the incident, a Bangladeshi construction worker, Ahmad Ali Late Azgor Ali, 42, was killed while another Bangladeshi and an Indonesian worker were injured, when the fifth floor which is still under construction, came crashing down 17 metres at about 10.30pm.
Fire Operations assistant director at the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department, Azizan Ismail, said their initial investigation showed that the scaffolding was not strong enough to support the excess weight of the heavy machines and concrete mixer placed on it.
"There were also several workers on that floor when the incident happened," he told Bernama after visiting the construction site Tuesday.
However, he said, a full, detailed investigation was being undertaken by a special committee which also involved the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
"The special committee was set up to further investigate the incident and to find out the causes as well as discuss measures to prevent such incidents from recurring.
"According to the regulations, construction work at the site is only allowed until 10pm but yesterday, the workers were still working after that time until the incident happened," he said.
Azizan said the management should improve safety levels at the site as a preventive measure.
Construction work on the building has been temporarily halted to enable DOSH to carry out its investigation. - Bernama
