Ministry to probe into blast

KUALA LUMPUR: The Works Ministry will investigate whether there was a violation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the recent explosion at the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station construction site in Bandar Malaysia.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, said the investigation would begin after getting the green light from the police, which were investigating the case.

“We have to wait until the police investigation is concluded before the Construction Industry Development Board and the Department of Occupational Safety and Hazard can enter the site and figure out what happened.

“We have technologies to scan and detect underground conditions to minimise damage to cables or pipes.

“This is an SOP for projects that involve underground work,” he said after attending the Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP) committee meeting here yesterday.

A Bangladeshi worker was killed while two others were injured in the explosion on Tuesday.

Police had confirmed that a World War 2 bomb exploded when construction work was being carried out.

Fadillah said such an incident was unpredictable as what was shown in the blueprint of the area might differ from the actual condition underground. Bernama