Probe on victim of collapsed lightning arrester completed - Police

The investigation report on the death of a man, feared to have been buried at the site of the collapsed lightning arrester pole in Jalan Macalister, here has been completed, said Timur Laut police chief ACP Gan Kong Meng.

He said the findings of the investigation would be submitted to the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, today for the death certificate application to be processed.

"Police acted based on what we obtained such as through the closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings to carry out the search and rescue operation, and we believe the body of the victim was in the vicinity of the site but it could not be found," he told reporters here.

He said a team from the Penang Hospital Forensics Department had also completed their tests in the area yesterday and did not find any body tissue and blood stains at the scene.

Gan said the investigation report was initiated based on the report of missing people, and the death certificate was expected to be delivered to the victim's family on Friday.

In the incident last Thursday, a rice seller, Lim Chin Aik, 44, was feared to have been buried after a search and rescue team found several parts of his grey Honda City embedded in the rubble on Saturday.

Police had confirmed that the chassis number of the buried car matched that of the victim's car which was reported missing since the incident occurred after the victim had gone to pick up his younger daughter from school.

The authorities then started its search and rescue operation to trace the victim, but it was halted at 8am on Monday to avoid the structure of the heritage buildings around the area from being affected.