3 BD workers feared dead in Malaysia span collapse

Three construction workers, all Bangladeshis, are feared dead after being trapped under a 300-tonne concrete span that collapsed at the MRT worksite near the former Rubber Research Institute (RRI) in Kota Damansara in Malaysia on Monday night. MRT Corp in a statement early Tuesday said the workers feared dead were Mohamad Faruk Khan, Mohammad Elahi Hossain and Mohammad Alauddin Mollik. ‘Rescue efforts are currently going on and an emergency response team is on standby at the site,’ the statement said. A span of the MRT guide way had dislodged from its piers and fell while construction work on the parapet for the guide way was being carried out on Monday night. The span, which was made up of 14 units of segmented box girders, was 38 metres long and weighing 300 tonnes. MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk 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 was quoted as saying by Malaysia’s Bernama news agency on Tuesday.