KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 – The area above a tunnel at the Jalan Imbi-Pudu intersection, here, which caved in this morning will be closed for two weeks to enable repairs to be carried out starting today.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) Project Implementation and Maintenance deputy director-general, Datuk Mohd Najib Mohd told reporters at the scene of the incident that the repair work was being carried out.
In the 9.30am incident, a section of the 35-metre tunnel under construction to build a four-lane underpass collapsed five metres deep following soil settlement. Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (Operations), Azizan Ismail said there were two soil movements detected in the area at 9.30am and 12.20pm.
“We fear there may be more cave-ins along the tunnel,” he said. Azizan said Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) pipe broke in today’s incident during the cave-in, and the department had requested Syabas to seal the water pipe to avoid worsening the situation.
“As a temporary safety measure, the contractor is now pumping water out from the site before piling work could be carried out to strengthen the area,” he said. Azizan said the department was still waiting for investigation by Syarikat Prasarana Negara, the KL Monorail operator, to ensure the monorail pillars at the location were intact.
Meanwhile, Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) said the cave-in was not related to the MRT project.”The Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT route does not pass through the area of the incident,” MRT Corp said in a statement today.
– BERNAMA
