Mine worker afraid to go to work - New Straits Times Online
New Straits Times Online, 24 November 2014
SRI AMAN: Muhadip, an Indonesian in his 30s, had been showing up every work day for the past four years before 7am. Saturday was no different. But that day would end differently for Muhadip and about 30 others at Silantek Quarry, Pantu, near here.
“I was monitoring machines at the site while others worked inside the tunnel.
“Suddenly, I heard a loud ‘boom’ , followed by smoke and dust from the tunnel entrance. I panicked when I saw my friends rushing out. Some were crying in pain,” said Muhadip at Sri Aman Hospital.
It was reported that three foreign workers were killed in the 9am coal mine blast. They were identified as Indonesian Kardianto, 38, Myanmar national Tun Tun Min, 36, and North Korean Pang Ching Nyok, 29. They were said to have died from suffocation.
Twenty other workers were seriously injured.
Most of them suffered from major burns on their bodies, while 10 others sustained light injuries.
The 33 victims comprised nine workers each from North Korea and Indonesia, Myanmar (seven), China (six) and Bangladesh (two).
The incident, said Muhadip, had left him and his friends terrified of returning to work.
In Kuala Lumpur, director-general of health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry has assured that the best treatment would be given to the victims.
“As soon as the state Health Department’s operations room received news of the blast, three medical and health units from the Sri Aman Health office and along with an ambulance were immediately sent to the location to provide emergency treatment,” he said.
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the lessons learnt from the explosion must be made public for the benefits of others working in similar environments.
He said it was time for it to be made mandatory for workers involved in mining works to attend safety and awareness training programmes.
Lee said that Niosh was not an enforcement agency like the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh) and thus, could not compel mine workers to attend safety and awareness training like for those in the manufacturing and construction industies.
Meanwhile, B sernama reported that the Fire and Rescue Department had ordered the mine to be closed temporarily.
