SIMPANG PULAI: Falling rocks at a quarry here hit a worker today, killing him on the spot, according to the Perak Fire & Rescue Department.
The department was summoned at 9.47am after the worker, identified as Loi Thiam Fatt, 56, was buried under debris at the quarry in the Sungai Raia mukim, said the department’s Zone 1 chief Mohd Khairul Jamil.
“We deployed seven personnel from the Simpang Pulai Fire & Rescue Station to the location,” he told reporters at the scene.
He said the firefighters took about 45 minutes to locate Loi’s body and sent it to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh.
“Work at the quarry has been stopped until the authorities confirm it is safe to resume,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ipoh district police chief ACP Mohd Ali Tamby said that the police were informed about the incident from a Noble Distinction (M) Sdn Bhd site supervisor at 8.29am.
He said an investigation found that the victim, an excavator operator, was clearing up the rubble from a blasting work on Thursday when the incident took place.
‘’Suddenly, a large rock from the hill top fell on the excavator the victim was operating. He was seriously injured and was confirmed dead at the scene,’’ he said in a statement here today.
Mohd Ali said that the victim was a father of two children and had worked as an excavator operator for the past 20 years including three years with the company.
He said that the company had a permit from the Perak Mineral and Geoscience Department to conduct work with explosives and another licence to use explosives from the Perak Police Contingent Headquarters’ Licensing Division. — Bernama
