One killed in quarry site explosion
The Star Online, 20 July 2013
JOHOR BARU: It took less than five minutes – and when it was over, the industrial area of Seri Alam looked like a war zone, with 20 cars crushed by flying boulders and a Nepali worker at a factory 500m away killed by falling rocks.
Workers of the plastics factory panicked and scurried for safety when the rocks and boulders – some as big as a Perodua Kancil – came crashing down after an explosion at a granite quarry at 12.30pm yesterday.
Eleven others were also injured in the hail of rocks, caused by a blast at the quarry located 500m uphill. The rocks also damaged 14 other factories on the road.
The unidentified Nepalese factory worker in his 30s, who was hit on the head by falling rocks, died on the spot in the incident in Jalan Bukit 2.
Another Nepali worker in the factory, who wished to be only known as Bador, said he and his colleagues were involved in packaging when they heard a loud bang.
Police personnel investigating the area where a boulder had landed in a factory.
“Suddenly, it started to rain rocks. I saw the victim being hit by the rocks and collapsing,” he said, adding that he rushed into the factory to save himself.
The other workers were too distraught to talk to the media.
Marketing manager Rosmawati Rahmat, 40, who works at another factory, said the ground rumbled after the blast from the quarry.
“When I looked out my office window, I saw huge stones coming down.
“I quickly hid under my table and prayed that it would pass quickly,” she said, adding that the rocks were falling for about five minutes.
Factory worker Mohd Aidil Abdul Kadir, 22, said a huge stone landed just metres away from him as he was about to leave his workplace for Friday prayers.
“My knees are still trembling,” he said, adding that he was thankful to be alive.
He said the quarry always carried out blasting work in the afternoon but this was the first time that rocks were blown away from the hill.
A worker cleaning up an oil spill from a tanker after it was damaged by the stones.
The quarry, belonging to Mados Sdn Bhd, has been operating there for more than 20 years.
Johor Fire and Rescue Department (operations) deputy assistant director Mohd Rizal Buang said the department received a distress call at around 1.14pm.
He said 37 department personnel from the Pasir Gudang and Johor Jaya Fire stations were deployed to the scene.
He said the victim’s body was sent to Sultan Ismail Hospital for post-mortem where the other injured workers are also being treated.
“We told the quarry operator to cease work when we conducted a search and rescue operation.
“The blast hurled rocks and fragments around a kilometre radius from the quarry,” he said.
