SHAH ALAM, 19 Aug: The corpse of one of the three Bangladeshi construction workers, who died when the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project overhead rail passage collapsed in Kota Damansara, was found at about 2.34 am today.
The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department Operation’s Assistant Director, Mohd. Sani Harul, said that the victim is Mohammad Elahi Hossain, 27.
The search operation is being continued to find the other two corpses.
In the incident which happened at 8.30 last night, a span of the guideway had dislodged from its piers and fell to the ground when the construction of the parapet along the track was being carried out.
Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) in a statement said that the two other workers are Mohamad Faruk Khan and Mohammad Alauddin Mollik.
“Rescue efforts are still ongoing and the emergency response team is ready at the scene, said the statement.
A span of the MRT guideway had dislodged from its piers and fell to the ground at 8.30 pm while construction of the parapet was being carried out on the MRT elevated guideway.
The span was made up of 14 units of segmented box girders that is 38m in length and weighed 300 tonnes.
MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid, who was at the site, expressed deep regret over the incident.
“Although investigations are underway, MRT Corp assumes full responsibility for the incident. Once investigations are completed, action on those responsible will be taken,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Selangor Fire and Rescue department operations director Mohd Sani Harul said that they are now using the tunnelling method to retrieve the corpse.
He said that dogs from the Fire and Rescue Department K9 unit were brought in to find the other two workers and that it is expected to continue until early this morning.
“Efforts are ongoing using the tunnelling method because the concrete is too heavy and long to be removed,” he said.
He said that all 14 units of segmented box girders weigh 490 tons.
NS