Police confirm one dead in 2nd Penang Bridge collapse
Police have confirmed that the victim still trapped under the rubble of a ramp link for to the Second Penang Bridge that collapsed bridge has died.
According to the Penang deputy CPO, a Malay man was found in the driver’s seat of a Perodua Kelisa, which is yet to be extricated from the site as the operations is still under way.
Police have confirmed that the victim still trapped under the rubble of a ramp link for to the Second Penang Bridge that collapsed bridge has died.
According to Penang deputy CPO Abdul Rahim Jaafar, a 43-year-old Malay man was found in the driver’s seat of a Kelisa that has yet to be extricated from the site as the operations is still under way.
The police cannot confirm if there are any further casualties beneath the rubble.
Earlier, the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) issued a stop work order on the construction of the Second Penang Bridge following the collapse of a section under construction last night.
MPPP engineering director Adnan Mohd Razali served the order on main contractor Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd’s project manager and to Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) today.
The order requires the two parties to stop all construction work at the site.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan visiting the site of the accident today said the stop work order will be effective until the contractor ensures the project is safe.
Lim expressed disappointment with the rescue efforts but blamed the procedures rather than the police or fire department.
He said the
authorities need to conduct a post mortem of the accident focussed on two key issues: the reason for the collapse, and the efficiency of rescue procedures.
Two workers and a member of the public in a passing vehicle were injured when a section of the bridge under construction at Batu Maung crossing the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway, Penang, collapsed at 7pm yesterday.
To date the police can only confirm one fatality.
Body retrieved at 8.40pm
The rescue team had retrieved the body at around 8.40pm. According to deputy CPO Abdul Rahim, only one family had come forward to report that a relative was missing, but his identity can only be confirmed after the post-mortem.
Abdul Rahim said the deceased will be sent to the Penang General Hospital for a post-mortem and the family will identify the body there. He believed the post-mortem can be completed by tonight or latest by tomorrow morning.
A member of a community policing organisation believed to be a family member fainted when seeing the body bag. Abdul Rahim said it is not suitable for the family to identify the body at the scene, so they will only do that at the mortuary, and that deceased still can be recognised.
The rescue team will continue searching until the whole site is cleared since some members of the public had claimed there are other vehicles trapped in the rubble.
Later, it was confirmed that the deceased was Tajudin Zainal Abidin, 45. According to his daughter Nor Aimai, 11, who was interviewed by the press at GH, Tajudin last called the family members at around 6pm before going to a hawker centre near the Bayan Lepas industrial zone to buy them dinner. She said Tajudin did not arrive home and there was no contact with them after that. Tajudin is a retired police officer.
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