KUALA LUMPUR: Firemen are working manually to extract the remains of a construction worker pinned under the rubble when a part of an under-construction building at Jalan Cochrane here collapsed.
Pudu fire station chief Armdan Mahad said the Fire and Rescue department, along with rescuers from other departments, have to work as such in order to prevent any sudden movement as the rubble was deemed unstable.
The rescuers were seen using various rescue paraphernalia to extricate the victim.
“We cannot use heavy-duty machinery fearing that it (other parts of the building) may collapse.
“If there is no other complications, we should be able to extricate the victim in one or two hours,” he said.
Asked if there was a possibility that the victim might still be alive, Armdan said the first responder from the Pudu fire station managed to hold the victim’s hand when they arrived but there was no response.
Armdan said the victim was levelling concrete at the middle of the building’s third floor when the staging for the floor slab collapsed.
Three of the victim’s colleagues were working at the side of the building during the incident, said Armdan. They escaped unhurt.
He estimated about 20 per cent of the building structure collapsed in the incident.
It is learnt that the collapsed part was just up earlier this morning.
The department received a distress call at 5.36pm and nine people from Pudu station were deployed.
The team was later joined by firemen from Hang Tuah station, police, Civil Defence Force, Kuala Lumpur City Hall and People's Volunteer Corps.