Jaya Supermarket Tragedy: Stop-work order issued as death toll rises

Search and rescue personnel have uncovered the remains of the fourth victim from the rubble of the collapsed Jaya Supermarket building in Petaling Jaya this afternoon, Malaysiakini reported.

The remains of Annuaruddin, 38, the excavator operator, was found trapped under the machine.

At about 3am today, the body of the third victim - that of Muhamad Maskur - was found pinned under a concrete slap in the car park.

They were among nine workers who were trapped when the five-storey building collapsed after demolition works went awry yesterday evening. And hopes of finding the remaining survivors are fast fading with time.

Two of the workers, all of whom are believed to be Indonesian nationals, rescued yesterday are undergoing treatment at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre.

Yesterday, Petaling Jaya district police chief Arjunaidi Mohamad said all nine victims were on the ground floor at the time of the incident.

Meanwhile, Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Lajim Ukin said initial investigation indicated that the structure might have collapsed due to overloading as heavy machinery were used in the demolition work.

In a related development, the Selangor state government today issued a stop-work order on the demolition works in order for investigations to be carried out.

The decision was made following a briefing on the tragedy by the Petaling Jaya City Hall (MBPJ) engineering unit, Malaysian Public Works Institute (Ikram) and the Department of Occupational Safety and Hazard (Dosh) at the Selangor Economic Action Council meeting this morning.

In a statement, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim said the briefing revealed a serious lack of proper guidelines in monitoring the demolition of buildings.