Pregnant woman falls on Damai LRT track

PETALING JAYA: A pregnant woman who fell on the Light-rail Transit (LRT) tracks at the Damai station in the capital this morning was saved as the Platform Intrusion Emergency Stop (PIES) system kicked into place to prevent an unwanted tragedy.
According to Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Khairani Mohamed, in the 7.48am the 26-year-old woman who is four-months pregnant was waiting at the station to head to work.
"CCTV footage revealed that the victim was feeling unstable prior to falling down the tracks as the train was heading towards the platform.
"The PIES system acted by stopping the train immediately when it detected an object fallen along the tracks," he said in a statement, today.
Following the incident, Khairani said Prasarana's auxiliary policemen and station operations officers ordered all passengers to evacuate the platform to allow for the victim to be rescued.
"The rescue team headed by the Fire and Rescue Department personnel and ambulance arrived at the location shortly after and took around seven minutes to rescue the victim.
"The victim was escorted by Rapid KL officers to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for further treatment. The LRT Kelana Jaya line was restored to normal service at 8.15am following a 25 minute delay," he said.
Khairani elaborated the PIES system works by immediately cutting the electric flow to the LRT systems should there be an impact above 7kg on the PIES system plate. PIES systems are installed on all platforms at the LRT Kelana Jaya route except for the underground stations.
"For the Ampang and Sri Petaling line, the PIES systems is presently being installed with works expected to be completed by year end," he said.
Khairani said they were thankful the system had worked as intended and praised the RapidKL officers and rescue authorities for ensuring that the woman was safe and did not suffer a miscarriage as a result of the fall.