Funeral for storm victim goes ahead

Lim Chin Aik's family hasn't obtained a death certificate

GEORGE TOWN: THE funeral of Lim Chin Aik, 44, who is presumed dead after a lightning arrestor at Menara Umno landed on his car during a freak storm on June 13, went ahead yesterday although his family had not obtained a death certificate.

The mood was somber as family members and friends gathered to pay their last respects to Lim at Lim Jetty here.

His wife, Lee Chai Song, 48, cut a forlorn figure while his mother, Ang Kim Looi @ Ang Kim Hooi, 70, cried and had to be consoled.

The funeral procession from the jetty began at 11am, with Lim's eldest son, Chia Yiang, 20, carrying an urn bearing mud from the incident site in Jalan Macalister, and daughter Hui Jiune, 13, carrying his portrait.

Another son, Chia Oon, 18, who has Down's syndrome, was seen carrying a bunting, expressing the family's hope for the issuance of a death certificate.

The funeral procession of Lim Chin Aik on its way to Kek Lok Si Temple’s columbarium in Penang yesterday.

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Menara Umno may face closure

Structu ral issue: The crack spotted on a rooftop beam of the Menara Umno in Penang.

The owner of Menara Umno has been directed to fix a deep crack found on a rooftop beam or risk the building being closed down.

“The abnormal crack, measuring about 15cm in width and 45cm in length, was detected by Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) officers du­­ring an inspection of the building on Friday.

“We will leave it to MPPP to ascertain the seriousness of the crack. If the building is not safe, it will be closed down,” Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said at Komtar yesterday.

Lim added that the cracked beam was facing Macalister Road and the building owner JKP Sdn Bhd had put up a safety net around it.

“But the council is not satisfied with a mere safety net. It is unlikely the concrete beam will drop onto the road but it might fall within the building compound.”

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Penang temple agrees to house storm victim’s urn

The Kek Lok Si Temple has agreed to allow the late Lim Chin Aik’s urn to be placed on its premises in Air Itam.

Chin Aik’s wife Lee Chai Song had filled the urn with mud scooped from the wrecked car parts found at the crater in Jalan Macalister.

Lim is believed dead and his body buried at least 40m or 13 storeys underground after his car was hit by a lightning arrestor that snapped and fell off the 21-storey Menara Umno during a freak storm on June 13.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state had appointed lawyers Karpal Singh and Gobind Singh Deo to represent the family to look into the legal matters.

“I’ve spoken to Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and he promised to make a request to the Attorney-General to hold an inquest,” he told a press conference at Komtar yesterday.

He said National Registration Department (NRD) director Datuk Jariah Mohd Said had in a letter explained that under Section 18 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 (Act 299), the department could not issue a death certificate yet.

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‘Body buried 13 storeys deep’

Former Institution of Engineers Malaysia (northern branch) chairman Lim Kok Khong says the body of Lim Chin Aik is believed to be buried at least 40m or 13 storeys underground and under a 30m-long solid mass of steel-reinforced concrete.

Kok Khong said the sheared off length of the lightning arrestor's concrete section was 38m-long and it had directly impacted the driver's section.

“It was so great it completely cut off the driver's section and drove it deep into the ground,” Kok Khong said. “He would have been killed instantly.”

“Imagine a giant pencil being driven into the ground, the top quarter would have broken off, shattering the surrounding surface, while the rest was completely buried underground.

“The remainder of the car was dragged down to a depth of 8m to 9m.

“Only the upper 10m of the arrestor's concrete section has been recovered,” he said. “The rest remains buried with the victim.”

Technical Explanation why failure to retrieve the body in Jalan Macalister incident

Further to the technical explanation of the Menara UMNO tragedy provided by MPPP engineers yesterday: The technical briefing was professional and comprehensive,... but not widely circulated. There is still a gap between the technical report from the experts and the reports in the media, leading to the public wondering why the victim's remains cannot be recovered from the impact site.

The simple reason is that MPPP has literally hit a concrete wall in the effort to recover the remains.

During the freak storm, the top section of the wing/fin-wall on the UMNO Tower sheared off and came down on Jalan Macalister. This section of the wall was approximately 38m long and was mostly constructed of reinforced concrete. The mass of the section may have been as much as 200 metric tons, and it fell from a height of approximately 70m.

The photos below are still images captured from a police CCTV that captured the moment of impact. The first frame shows the concrete mass impacting the victim's car. In the next frame, the car completely vanishes from view as it is driven into the impact crater.

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Family members hold seventh-day prayers

Lim Chin Aik’s family members holding prayers near the Penang Museum and Art Gallery in Jalan Macalister yesterday.

Mass prayers were held near Menara Umno to appease the soul of the missing and presumed dead hawker Lim Chin Aik.

The prayers marked the seventh day since last Thursday when Chin Aik was believed to have been crushed to death by a lightning arrestor that fell off from the rooftop.

Condolences were also extended to two other people who were killed in the freak storm.

A minute's silence was observed prior to the chanting, held under a makeshift canopy near the Penang Museum and Art Gallery in Jalan Macalister. The hour-long chanting started at 6.30pm.

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Hawker's family views CCTV clip

Workers covering the 6m hole in Jalan Macalister yesterday

It shows lightning arrestor falling on Lim Chin Aik's car in Jalan Macalister during storm

GEORGE TOWN: FAMILY members of hawker Lim Chin Aik were yesterday shown how his Honda City sustained a direct hit by the falling lightning arrestor in a 34-second video during the storm, here, on June 13.

The video, obtained from a closed-circuit television (CCTV) in Jalan Macalister, recorded vehicles passing along the stretch at 6.33pm.

A minute later, as the winds blew strongly, the video showed the falling lightning arrestor hitting Chin Aik's car, after which a blackout occurred.

Chin Aik's body has yet to be recovered.

Family members, including Chin Aik's parents, Lim Tian Chor, 73, and Ang Kim Looi @ Ang Kim Hooi, 70, as well as younger brother Khung Ling viewed the video at Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's office.

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Tests find no trace of body tissue from wreckage

Local authorities filling up the crater at Jalan Macalister, Penang.



Police are unable to detect any body tissue and blood stain belonging to 44-year-old missing hawker Lim Chin Aik in its forensic investigations.

Lim is presumed death after he was believed to have been crushed to death by a pole which fell off the Menara Umno in Jalan Macalister during a freak storm last Thursday.

Northeast district police chief Assistant Commissioner Gan Kong Meng said the forensic and chemistry departments could not trace any remains of Lim after scouring for Lim's DNA from the car wreckage unearthed from the gaping hole.

"We believe his body is there (buried below the road surface) and it cannot be recovered," Gan told a press conference today.

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CCTV to shed light on missing hawker

Police have obtained CCTV footage of the incident in Jalan Macalister to help shed light on the mystery surrounding economy rice seller Lim Chin Aik who is believed to be buried in a crater there.

State police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said the CCTV has clear footage but declined to elaborate.

The footage was obtained from a surveillance camera installed at a lamppost in front of Menara Umno where a lightning arrester snapped and fell off the 21-storey building following a freak storm last Thursday.

He added that the police would help the family to obtain the death certificate by Friday following a directive from Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“The chassis number found at the scene matched those of Lim’s car,” he said at the Penang Road police station.

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Rush to escape storm proves deadly

Muhameed Selem Tastakhir (pic) and his friend worked hard to get back to their base to escape a storm. Sadly for him, their haste led to his co-worker being killed when tonnes of concrete and metal fell on their gas tank delivery truck.

Selem, 34, said he had no inkling of what was about to happen as he was driving towards Menara Umno en route to their base in nearby Tamil Street.

“It happened so fast. I didn't know what hit me,” said Selem, who only suffered minor injuries to his head.

Unfortunately, Selem's close friend of two years, Indian national Jahir Hussain Sulaiman, 46, did not survive the accident and died from his injuries in hospital.

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Penang freak storm: Search called off for sake of heritage buildings

 

Car debris found inside the crater.

The search operation for Lim Chin Aik has been called off due to safety reasons over the buildings nearby.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the operation ended on the advice of engineering experts who had warned that continuous digging might cause soil movement and erosion.

“We fear that digging works might endanger the prized heritage buildings in this area,” he said near the scene yesterday. “The buildings might cave in or collapse.”

Lim has been listed as missing after his car was believed to have been hit by debris from a fallen 38m-long lightning arrestor during a freak storm on Thursday.

Guan Eng said the road would likely be opened on Thursday, adding that the immediate task was to stabi-lise the affected ground with sand.

He said all the relevant agencies had agreed to speed up on the ground works, including the repair to cables and pi-ping.

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Penang freak storm: Family grieves as search gets called off

The family of the man believed buried some 7m underground in the Macalister Road tragedy broke down when the search for Lim Chin Aik's body had to be called off.

Sobbing uncontrollably, Lim's wife Lee Chai Song, 48, scooped mud from the last piece of his wrecked car part that had been dug out of the crater where Lim was believed to have been buried.

“We cannot find your body. We will treat this wet soil as your remains and bring you home,” she cried in Hokkien.

Lim, 44, is feared buried after debris from a lightning arrestor snapped and fell off the 21-storey Menara Umno and hit his car following a freak storm on Thursday.

Lim's mother Ang Kim Looi, 70, also wept when she was told that the operation had been called off.

“Wa chin chia sayang lu, lu chai bor? (I love you very much, do you know that?),” the grief-stricken mother said in Hokkien.

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Bridge workers not registered

Deputy Works Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin (right) visiting the site of the collapsed Second Penang Bridge ramp in Batu Maung yesterday



Contractor of the collapsed Second Penang Bridge ramp may face action

KEPALA BATAS: THE contractor of the collapsed Second Penang Bridge ramp in Batu Maung may face action for not registering its workers with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

State CIDB director Raslim Salleh said initial investigations revealed that some of the workers at the construction site of Package 3A of the bridge intersection project were not registered with the board.

Raslim said under CIDB Malaysia Act 1994 (Act 520), workers at construction sites must have Industrial Personnel Registration Cards or "Green Cards" to prove that they were registered with the CIDB.

"Our initial investigation revealed that some of the workers at the construction site did not have the Green Card and thus the contractor concerned may face action for not registering their workers with the CIDB as stipulated under the Act 520," he told pressmen after leading a joint-operation with state Immigration Department and Health Department at a construction site in Bertam, here, yesterday.

The three-day joint operations, which began yesterday, was to ensure that contractors adhered to CIDB's regulations by registering their workers with the board and not hiring illegal workers.

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SECOND BRIDGE PENANG COLLAPSE: Widow recalls final picnic with husband, children Read more: SECOND BRIDGE PENANG COLLAPSE: Widow recalls final picnic with husband, children

Sharifah Ramli relating her sadness over the death of her husband yesterday.

"I will never forget our last family picnic in Taman Perbandaran Pulau Pinang last week.

"Those precious moments that we spent with our children seems like a dream now that he has left us," said Sharifah Ramli, 40.

Her husband, Tajudin Zainal Abidin, was killed when the 30m ramp of the Second Penang Bridge collapsed on Thursday.

The body of 45-year-old Tajudin, a former policeman, was extricated from his mangled Perodua Kelisa more than 24 hours later. After her husband's burial at the Batu 39 Muslim cemetery in Bukit Merah near here at 3am yesterday, Sharifah said she was still coming to terms with Tajudin's death.

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SECOND BRIDGE RAMP COLLAPSE: DOSH probe now on full swing

The Department of Occupational Safety and Health's (Dosh) investigations is now on full swing following the calling off the search and rescue operation of the collapsed Second Penang Bridge ramp at Batu Maung on Saturday.

State Dosh director Mohd Anuar Embi said a team of 13 men from his department had been deployed to the scene since Thursday to carry out thorough investigation into the incident.


"The team, comprising of three forensics from Putrajaya and senior officers from Penang will look into factors contributing to the collapse, worker competency, management of contractors and whether proper work procedures were adhered," he said in a press conference at the scene today.

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Penang ramp collapse: Scaffolding inadequate, says expert

The collapse of a section of the ramp connecting the second Penang bridge to the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway could have been caused by inadequate scaffolding, according to an expert.

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Housing Building and Planning professor of engineering construction Dr Mahyuddin Ramli said that when designing scaffolding, contractors should adhere to international codes of practice.

“The scaffolding must be able to withstand the superstructure and horizontal loads as well as the additional hydraulic pressure of fresh cement,” he said yesterday.

He said concrete in its fluid form would add load on the scaffolding.

“It takes five hours for the concrete to harden before it can carry its own weight.

“Before that, it relies on the scaffolding to hold it in place,” he said, cautioning contractors to never underestimate the importance of scaffolding.


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Penang ramp collapse: Body of ex-cop retrieved from rubble

Police retrieved a body of a former policeman from a crushed Perodua Kelisa buried under the rubble of a collapsed section of a ramp at the second Penang bridge's Batu Maung interchange.

State deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaafar said the body of Tajudin Zainal Abidin (pic), 45, was found slumped over the dashboard of the car in the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.

Rescuers begin extricating the body at 4.30pm. The process took four hours.

A relative of the victim was so shocked by the sight of the body that he fainted. He was carried away on a stretcher and taken to the Penang Hospital.

The body was sent to the Penang Hospital mortuary.

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SECOND BRIDGE RAMP COLLAPSE: Body in Kelisa recovered

The body of Tajudin Zainal Abidin, 45, who was trapped in a Perodua Kelisa, was extricated by rescue workers at 8:50pm, after more than 24 hours following the collapse of the Second Penang Bridge ramp.
Tajudin, a former policeman, lived in Permatang Damar Laut near the accident site and was believed to be heading to his home at the time.


Tajuddin’s brother who was on the site at the time of extrication, broke down into tears before fainting moments later.

The Fire and rescue workers were seen lifting the body from the rubble and placing it on a stretcher before loading it into a Black Maria to be transported to the Penang Hospital.

Tajuddin’s brother, who was unconscious, was also taken to the hospital.

Meanwhile, forensic pathologist Datuk Dr Bhupinder Singh who performed the post mortem, said Tajudin died as a result of traumatic asphyxia due to crush injuries of the chest.

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SECOND BRIDGE RAMP COLLAPSE: Search and rescue works continue

It has been 12 hours since the 30-metre wide ramp connecting the Second Penang Bridge in Batu Maung collapsed about 7pm yesterday, but rescuers were still struggling to extricate the bodies trapped underneath the 300-tonne concrete rubble.

The rescue team had to abort an earlier plan to lift up the rubble using a 45-tonne crane to enable the rescuers go underneath the collapsed ramp to reach out to the crushed Perodua Kelisa, as the structure was found to be unstable.

"The plan to lift up the rubble to enable the rescuers to go underneath the struggle and reach out to the crushed vehicle has been aborted."

"It may be even more dangerous as the possibility of the rubble to crumble was quite high," said a source.

He said as such, they had to resort to using hydraulic hammers to create holes in order to stabilise the rubble before lifting up major parts of the structure.

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Penang bridge ramp collapse: Rescuers struggle to get to crushed car

Police start to cordon off about 700m along the coastal highway to the site where the ramp collapsed. Heavy presence of policemen, firemen along with construction workers clearing the rubble with sound of drilling and sawing of metal.

GEORGE TOWN: Search teams are cutting through huge steel and concrete beams to get to a car crushed after an uncompleted ramp of a flyover connecting the still-under-construction second Penang bridge at Batu Maung collapsed at 7pm Thursday.

Two cranes are lifting huge chunks of rubble linked to twisted steel beams that have to be cut carefully with rescuers warned to be mindful of their own safety.

Police said the rescue teams' bid to get closer to the car was hampered by the overlapping collapsed beams. The number of people in the car is yet to be determined.

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