Investigation on Sarawak coal mine explosion still on hold – Bernama
The investigation into the actual cause of the explosion in a tunnel at a coal mine in Pantu, near Sri Aman, which killed three people this morning is still being put on hold as at 6.30pm today.
Sri Aman Fire Station chief, Ranger Moos, said this was because the operations and fire forensics team must obtain confirmation on the safety of the personnel from the Hazardous Materials Unit (Hazmat) before they could enter the tunnel.
"The Hazmat team must enter the tunnel first to ensure there is no gas leakage and determine the type of gas that had leaked in the tunnel, as well as ensure that the situation is safe for the forensics team to enter to undertake investigation," he told reporters when met at the scene of the incident, today.
Ranger said besides the safety confirmation from the Hazmat team, he must also obtain confirmation from the engineer of the coal mining company whether the structure of the tunnel was affected by the explosion.
"The Hazmat team is expected to arrive at the location this evening. So, the fire operations team will monitor the location of the incident and will not allow anyone to enter the tunnel for the time being," he said.
A check by Bernama at the location found that the Fire and Rescue Department was still seeking further information on the incident from the mine supervisor.
Also present at the mine were officials from the Sarawak Health Department.
Ranger said the Fire and Rescue Department was informed by the mine supervisor that the mining company employed 119 workers comprising Chinese nationals (15), Myanmar (29), Indonesians (19), Bangladeshis (10) and North Koreans (46).
"The supervisor also confirmed that only 27 workers were in the tunnel concerned when the explosion occurred," he said.
Ranger said preliminary investigation revealed the incident was caused by sparks from a faulty fan which ignited a gas fire and explosion in the tunnel which is 700 metres long. – Bernama, November 22, 2014.
