PETALING JAYA: Police have opened up a case against the contractors of the Light Rail Transport (LRT) construction site along Jalan Lapangan Terbang Subang, where a falling beam injured two motorists and damaged their cars on Thursday.
Petaling Jaya OCPD ACP Azmi Abu Kassim said police were pursuing a charge against the contractors for not following safety regulations, calling the incident unacceptable.
“We are lucky that the victims only suffered minor injuries but we are concerned that those at the site were not following the safety standard operating procedure. The incident could have easily caused a death,” he said.
During the 9am incident, a steel beam fell from a crane and crashed on top of the victims travelling in a Honda Civic. The car was then hit by a van from behind amid the chaos.
The victims, a man and a woman, are being treated at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre.
A visit to the scene yesterday found the construction site to be empty, except for a few workers and cranes but a site engineer said the project had been halted temporarily.
The engineer, who requested anonymity, said the incident was due to the subcontractors not giving clear instructions on safety measures to the construction workers, who were mostly foreigners with language barriers.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the incident, which is the third mishap around rail worksites in 15 months, raised questions if the contractors were taking proper precautions to prevent accidents.
“The public are getting very jittery and nervous each time they pass through the various construction sites not knowing how safe the work being carried out by the contractors concerned is,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile the management of the Kelana Jaya LRT expansion project has expressed regret over the mishap.
Trans Resources Corporation Sdn Bhd, the company responsible for the LRT expansion project, said they were working closely with the Department of Occupational Safety and Health and Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd in investigating the matter.
“It is our concern and priority to fully investigate the cause of the incident,” said the company’s executive chairman Datuk Seri Sufri Mohd Zin in a statement yesterday.
