KUALA LUMPUR: Law student Emma was back to university after the year-end holidays and was relaxing between classes when the building shook. She thought it was an earthquake.
The 18-year-old scrambled out of the building fearing for her life.
Her first day back to campus became one of tragedy and trauma when an explosion rocked the Help University building in Bukit Damansara, leaving one man dead and nine others injured.
“I was between classes and relaxing when I felt the building move.
“At first, I thought it was just students dropping weights at the nearby gym but it didn’t make sense – the whole building shook.
“The explosion came from level 4 but we had people from level 8 feeling the tremor as well.
“I later learned that a classmate of mine was among the students that were injured when a piece of the ceiling crashed down,” the law student said.
Sources have confirmed that a 24-year-old intern who had been working on the air-conditioning compressor had been killed. Emma said the students and faculty members rushed out of the building.
“At first, we didn’t think too much about it but as more and more people left the building we realised it was actually a serious issue,” she said.
She said face-to-face classes have been halted temporarily.
“We have been told to attend online classes until Jan 16,” she said.
Help University said the affected building will remain closed until investigations are completed.
“Earlier this morning, an incident occurred in the kitchen of an F&B outlet on the fourth floor of one of Help University’s campus buildings at Bukit Damansara.
“Nine people sustained injuries, including four students and one university staff member. There was one fatality involving an external contractor,” it said in a statement.
“Students and staff on campus were immediately evacuated, Emergency services arrived shortly after they were notified,” it said.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Comm Datuk Fadil Marsus said at the scene that the authorities received a call at 11.40am about the explosion of an air-conditioning compressor in a maintenance area next to the cafeteria on the fourth floor.
“The victims suffered various injuries, including burns and injuries caused by flying debris, as the explosion was strong enough to cause damage to the walls,” he told a press conference at the scene yesterday.
The victims have been sent to several nearby hospitals for further treatment, including the University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur Hospital and Sungai Buloh Hospital.
Four of the injured were students while the other five were two external contractor workers who had come to help on the repair works, one management staff member and two foreign nationals working as cafeteria attendants.
Comm Fadil said that there were not many students in the area as many were still on holiday. The City Fire and Rescue Department said the explosion destroyed about a third of the room.
“Investigations showed that the explosion occurred in the air-conditioning compressor room while maintenance work was being carried out,” it said.
It added that checks found no leaks following the explosion.
Meanwhile, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) confirmed that the sole casualty from the incident was a student of theirs who was undergoing industrial training with an air conditioning maintenance company.
In a Bernama report, the dean of UTAR’s Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Prof Chang Yoong Choon, said Soo Yu Juan, 24, was a third-year mechanical engineering student who was scheduled to complete his industrial training on Thursday.
He said the industrial training was part of the routine academic requirements for engineering students to provide exposure to real-world working environments.
“This incident is deeply shocking. The student went to the location as part of a routine assignment related to air conditioning maintenance work,” he said when met at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital Forensic Department here yesterday. Chang said UTAR provides insurance coverage for all students, including for accidents during industrial training.
“Once all relevant documents are obtained, the university will submit the insurance claim.
“I am personally representing the university to manage this case until its resolution as part of UTAR’s commitment to the student and the family,” he said, adding that the company where the victim was interning at had expressed its commitment to provide assistance, including funeral arrangements.
