‘Residents immediately evacuated at 8am because the heat was too strong’

PETALING JAYA: Soon after explosions were heard in Putra Heights, residents rushed to vacate their homes because the heat was too strong, a resident recounts.

Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, a retiree, said he is working with the local community to shelter fire victims here.

“The explosion was about 8.12am. Then people just evacuated because the heat was too strong,” said Syed Zainal, who is the chairman of a local mosque here.

Syed Zainal said some residents are taking shelter in his mosque nearby.

“Because not everybody have family and this is Hari Raya Aidilfitri, many people are away.

“So, we are working with the community to make sure whatever infrastructure we have, we want to use it to help,” said Syed Zainal.

Syed Zainal, a former non-independent and non-executive director at Petronas Dagangan Berhad (PetDag), said the fire should be put out in the coming hours.

“Very long ago, I was the project engineer for this pipeline engineering, so I was monitoring it,” said Syed Zainal, who added that he worked on the gas pipeline project from 1989 to 1992.

Syed Zainal said the pipe is about two meters underground, and emergency workers are waiting for the remaining gas to dissipate.

“The gas will have to run out before the situation can be assessed,” added Syed Zainal.

Another resident, who only wanted to be known as Andy, said he immediately left his house after the explosions woke him up.

“I took my family and drove out immediately. I’m not sure yet what time I can get home,” he said briefly before leaving.

The towering inferno in Putra Heights in Subang Jaya is visible from kilometres away.

Fire and Rescue Department teams from the Subang Jaya, Shah Alam and Puchong fire stations were deployed, involving nearly 80 personnel.

Images and videos of the inferno have flooded social media, with one video showing the carnage on a nearby house from the explosion.

Holes on the wall of the house were seen, possibly caused by shrapnel from the initial explosion. Clothes hanging out to dry can be seen singed and charred as the flames raged on in the background.