PUTRA HEIGHTS DISASTER: TWO MORE EXCAVATORS BROUGHT IN TO EXPEDITE WORK TO STABILISE SOIL

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (Bernama) -- The investigation team brought in two additional excavators yesterday to speed up work to stabilise the soil at the site of the gas pipeline explosion in Putra Heights, Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the operation was being carried out around the clock so that the report on the incident could be completed sooner than expected.

He added that as of today, work to stabilise the soil had reached 30 per cent and sheet piling works began this afternoon.

bootstrap slideshow

"Currently, we are working on the soil grading process for the machinery to enter the site for sheet piling works,” he told the media conference at the Putra Heights Incident Control Post (PKTK) here today.

He said work to install the sheet pile is expected to be completed tomorrow and the excavator that is buried in the crater due to the explosion could be removed in two or three days.

Hussein said the relevant agencies, such as the Royal Malaysia Police, Fire and Rescue Department, Public Works Department and Department of Occupational Safety and Health will be on standby at the location 24 hours a day to monitor the soil excavation work.

He was previously reported to have said that work to stabilise the soil would be carried out using three excavators as well as a bulldozer and a backhoe.

The Petronas gas pipeline fire that broke out around 8.10 am on April 1 sent flames more than 30 metres into the sky, with temperatures soaring to 1,000 degrees Celsius. It took nearly eight hours for the blaze to be fully extinguished.

The disaster destroyed 81 homes completely, with structural damage exceeding 40 per cent, another 81 were partially destroyed, and 57 were affected but not burnt, while 218 houses were not affected.

-- BERNAMA