Thursday 28 May 2009

Jaya supermarket collapses: two dead, seven trapped (update)

The landmark Jaya Supermarket building in Section 14 in Petaling Jaya collapsed this afternoon when demolition operations went wrong.

At least nine construction workers all believed to be Indonesians are still trapped under the debris with two having rescued. A body was recovered at around 6.50pm, identified as that of Maskor, 28. The second body was recovered late at night.


Click here for update. Also the Sun, here, the Malay Mail here.

Earlier report from the Star:
Jaya Supermarket accident: Workers trapped, one dead

The landmark Jaya Supermarket building in Section 14 in Petaling Jaya collapsed after demolition operations went awry Thursday afternoon

PETALING JAYA: Search and rescue operations are underway at the site of the landmark Jaya Supermarket here after demolition operations went awry Thursday afternoon.

At least five construction workers are still trapped, with two having been rescued. One body has been recovered.

A resident living nearby said he heard trapped workers shouting “Tolong, tolong (Help, help)” for a while, but there now was only silence.

More than 100 rescue workers are on the scene. Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Soiman Jahid said rescue workers pulled out the first worker at 5:45pm, followed by the second at 6pm.

Both were rushed to Universiti Hospital where they are reportedly in stable condition. Other workers are being examined by several medics on the scene.

At 6:44pm, rescuers pulled out a body of a construction worker, the first confirmed fatality, Soiman said.

“We believe that five more workers are still trapped under the debris, and we’re using tracker dogs to try and trace them,” he said.

The building has six-storeys, including the basement. Most of the workers were on the ground and third floors when the incident, whose cause is currently unknown, occurred.

The collapsed part is at the back of the building. About one-quarter of the building has collapsed, observers say.

At one stage, the remaining part of the building was teetering dangerously, reporters on the scene said, with bits and pieces still falling off.

However, the Fire and Rescue Department has confirmed that there are no houses nearby and residents were not in danger.

Numerous fire engines and ambulances are still on the scene, and police have barricaded the area.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i had gone through most of the news/articles/etc
and i even went to that area for a look on what happen since got a friend stay @ menara bakti
i did feel that some of the things written/concern by local council, the people standing there or mayb some other unknown parties are not so accurate

1. News concern that the collapse might due to overloading by the excavator.
- actually this is very unfair to the contractor as this is an accident, no one will want it happen. Some more the collapse just happen few hours ago. No investigation on the structure being carried out yet, so it is not so good to give some comment like this at the earlier stage or before the investigation. Wonder why they will not think about it might due to fault design by the earlier consultant, or might due to workmanship problem by the earlier contractor????????????i doubt this!!!!!!!!!!!

Lets look into it in Engineering way.
A Retail / shopping complex's slab is design to cater for a very high loading (life load/dead load)*.
it might be 10 tonne for a slab. Mayb some real engineer can clarify this.
so an excavator being put there is EX60 (which is about 6.5 tonne only), sure the slab can take the load. Note: the excavator model is what i get from the menara bakti using my friend's binocular.
what i saw there even the slab also being prop up using the scaffolding (where each scaffolding can take about 2 tonne), so why the slab cant take the load?????
slab load permissible = 10 tonne
Scaffold load permissible = (2.5t x 4 nos)=10 tonne (what i observe there is the slab is being prop up with more than 4 scaffold, i think there were thousand of scaffold propping
see the calculation above i hope u guys can understand

* dead load = partition/goods/etc (this is a shopping complex, i think the thing sure a lot like hell)
* live load = people/or something is moving (1 ppl say 60kg, 30 ppl already 1.8tonne. dont tell me only 3 ppl in the shopping!!!)
* roof top is a car park. a car about 1 tonne, for a area like 9m x 9m can cater for 6 cars. so about 6 tonne/81m2, sure the slab will design for higher loading, so a excavator is just 6.2 tonne, only 200kg heavier

2. Professional engineer
i think most of the project will required a PE for the work. sure the PE will need to ensure everything is OK then only allow the contractor to do the work. otherwise sure the PE will never allow contractor to do the work. Please think about how big is the responsibility of a PE. a signature on a paper then he/she will need to bear the LIFETIME RESPONSIBILITY.

3. 30 years old building
guys, this is a 30 years old building. it even elder than me. no1 can sure what happen or what can happen to this building within this 30 years. so what can we call it????
the current contractor sure always be the 1st one being blamed, why? they just do their job only for something which is really old.

frankly speaking. i heard a lot of people talking about like: how the structure collapse, what, etc
for me, all these people are like a ENGINEER WANNABE....
i would say let the professional do their job and pray for the peoples trap inside
i hope they are safe