Thorough investigation on explosion - Lafarge Malaysia

A thorough investigation is being conducted on the cause of the explosion that happened on a 4.26-metre-high storage tank at a factory owned by Lafarge Malaysia yesterday, which claimed the lives of three maintenance workers.

In a statement today, Lafarge Malaysia chief executive officer, Thierry Legrand said the company was working with relevant authorities on the investigation.

“We regret to inform that the bodies of our three colleagues have been recovered today from the fire damaged oil tank.

“We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and our immediate priority is our employees and their families,” he said.

He said the company, with police and Fire and Rescue personnel mounted a search and recovery operation immediately after the fire was extinguished around 5 pm, which continued through the night.

“The first (body) was recovered around 3.45 pm, the second at 5 pm and the third at 6 pm. They are now with the authorities for identification,” he said.

In the 4 pm incident yesterday, Mohd Ziehafizan Abd Rahman, 28, Zamri Adenan, 35, and T. Baskaran, 49, who were doing maintenance work on the tank when the explosion happened, were feared to have fallen into the burning container.

The rescue team had to drain over 725,000 litres of diesel from the tank to locate the victims after firefighters put out the fire.

-- BERNAMA