The collapsed tower is lightning arrester, not a telecommunications tower-MCMC

The tower which collapsed because of the storm and left two people dead in Jalan Macalister, Penang yesterday was not a telecommunications tower as reported by the media.

According to a media release by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the tower was not a structure for telecommunications but a 'lightning arrester' that was cosmetically designed to reflect a more suitable appearance.

It has been identified by officers from the MCMC Northern Regional Office who had rushed to the scene and surveyed the area found that the tower was not a structure for telecommunications.

“We can confirm that the collapsed structure was not a telecommunications tower. It was a ‘lightning arrester’ built cosmetically. We also found that the structure that had held the tower in its place collapsed and crashed onto road,” said Ahmad Nor Hisham Mohd Yusop, Head of Northern Regional Office, MCMC.

An evening storm wreaked havoc in Penang yesterday causing the communications tower atop the Umno building in Jalan Macalister here to collapse, leaving two person dead and eight others injured.

Jahir Hussain Sulaiman, 46, the driver of a pick up truck who was seriously injured in the incident later died at the Penang Hospital.

Another victim, was jogging in the area was killed by a tree which fell on him near Air Itam Dam.