KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 — A Bangladeshi construction site worker died on the spot today when the incomplete cement flooring below him gave way at a Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) substation located next to the Cochrane Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station.  

The victim, aged in his 20s, died after he was buried under tonnes of construction scaffolding, wet cement, and metal reinforcement beams during the 5.30pm incident.

Pudu Fire and Rescue Department Station chief Armdan Mahad told reporters the victim fell through the flooring while he was layering and setting concrete cement.

“He was on the third floor at the centre of the unfinished flooring with four other workers when it came crashing down and landed on the first level.

“He is the only victim involved, as four other colleagues managed to escape to solid ground when the incomplete flooring gave way,” he said.

Armdan said rescuers expect to spend at least two more hours at the scene removing rubble before extracting the victim.

“We believe, based on our attempts to communicate with the victim, that he had already died under the weight of the rubble when we arrived.

“Rescuers are aware of his exact location in the rubble, but will have to remove the debris before safely extracting him,” he said.

Armdan said around 30 rescuers are currently at the scene manually removing the debris pinning the victim down.

“Due to the structure still being unstable, we are unable to engage heavy machinery to remove debris, forcing us to do it with handheld rescue tools,” he said.

TNB in a statement said the incident occurred while workers were layering concrete flooring on the third storey.

The incident happened at their main signal substation construction site along Jalan Cochrane.

“While the full extent of the damage has yet to be established, initial reports suggest at least one worker is possibly trapped under the rubble,” the statement read.

Emergency responders from the Fire and Rescue Department are still at the scene working to extract the victim.

Meanwhile, MRT clarified that the incident at the substation was not related to the Klang Valley MRT project.

MRT Corp Director of Public Relations and Stakeholder Relations Datuk Najmuddin Abdullah said the construction of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line, of which the Cochrane MRT Station is part of, was completed and opened to the public in July 2017.

“There is no longer any construction work being undertaken by MRT Corp or any of its contractors at the site. So the substation which is currently under construction by TNB is not part of the MRT project,” he said.

“The substation happened to be located next to the Cochrane MRT Station, hence the substation adopted the name based on this location."

He said the substation was undergoing an upgrade of power supply in the area.