Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) has announced that its CEO Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid has resigned over the incident that occurred last night at the MRT worksite within the former Rubber Research Institute near Kota Damansara.
“As the head of MRT Corp, I am taking personal responsibility for the incident and this is the correct thing to do. I have informed the chairman Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa of my decision,” he said. He added that MRT Corp and relevant authorities will investigate and identify the cause of the incident.
A span of the MRT guideway had dislodged from its piers and fallen on the ground below at around 8:30pm yesterday. The span, which was made up of 14 units of segmented box girders, was 38m in length and weighed 300 tons.
The bodies of three workers of Bangladesh nationality that was trapped underneath have been recovered. The recovery operation involved cutting eight tendons to loosen the 14 segmented box girders (SBGs) that are stressed together to form the fallen span.
The project delivery partner MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP) have commenced investigations to find out the cause of the incident. All work along Package V1 where the incident occurred has been suspended until further notice.
“Initial investigations revealed the work method approved for the installation of parapets were not adhered to. We will investigate why this happened, and no stone will be left unturned so that we can get to the bottom of this tragic incident. We will also not spare anyone whose actions are found to have caused or contributed to this accident,” Azhar added.
Azhar also assured the public that the MRT structures along the 51km alignment were built to specifications and the public should be assured they are safe.
“Immediate checks carried out have revealed that there is no reason for the public to worry about the other spans which have been built along the alignment. There is absolutely no issue with structural integrity along our alignment,” he says.
