SUBANG JAYA: Construction work conducted near the area where the gas pipeline explosion occurred on Jalan Putra Harmoni followed approval guidelines, say police.
Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said investigations showed that digging works reached 2.1m in depth.
It was previously reported that earthworks were being conducted to replace an existing sewage pipe located approximately 30m from the point of the explosion.
"Further statements given showed that excavation works by contractors did not exceed 3m (deep) along the road with the width of the digging around 1.5m.
"As far as I can say now is that the distance of the works were within what was approved. "Whether that affected the pipeline still needs to be investigated – for that, we need to expose the whole pipeline from the area (where work was taking place) to ground zero," he said in a press conference on Sunday (April 6).
He added that authorities uncovered parts of the gas pipeline to conduct their investigation.
"The police found that the gas pipeline was 5.6m underground," he said, adding that the sewage pipe and gas pipeline were around 1.6m apart.
He also said the gas pipeline inspected did not show any clear sign of damage.
Comm Hussein Omar added that bad weather had also destabilised the area around ground zero and there are plans to install sheet piles to address this.
"This will take between seven to 10 days," he said.
Comm Hussein added that a preliminary report on their findings would be completed in about two weeks, after April 15.
