Subang Jaya inferno: Sand and gravel spewed over houses kilometres away

KUALA LUMPUR: The gas line fire incident that occurred at Jalan Putra Harmoni, Putra Heights early Tuesday (April 1) was a tragic awakening to residents living nearby as it also caused ‘sand and dust rain’ not only around the incident area but up to several kilometres from the location.

Nor Azian Jamil, 51, who lives in Kampung Seri Aman, Puchong, said that even six kilometres from the scene, she felt the effects of the fire when her yard and vehicle were also ‘covered’ with red sand and fine gravel.

“At 8am this morning I was about to go to work, I felt strange because I heard the sound of rumbling and like the sound of an airplane right above the house, when I came out I saw a towering fire clearly visible even though it was far away and my vehicle was already filled with dust and fine gravel,” she said.

She said they could feel the heat in her village due to the fire.

Many social media users have uploaded photos and videos of vehicles and areas near their homes ‘showered’ with sand and fine gravel.

A Facebook user Azizee Bos Abul Habis wrote, “The whole of Puchong and Putra Heights is hit by a rain of sandstones… the sound of burning (fire) is very strong and terrible”.

Another Facebook user, Suppie Mahmud, said he heard the sound of an airplane flying over the house in heavy rain followed by thunder.

“After that, the neighbour messaged and for a picture on the roof of my house there was sand, sand apparently,” he said in his post.

Sharoan Nastashia wrote: “In our 27 years of life, this is the first time we have seen sand rain. We were surprised that there was no sound on the roof but we didn’t even see rainwater. We saw sand rain.”

The gas pipeline fire was reported to have subsided as of 1.55pm Tuesday.

A total of 112 victims and 49 houses were affected in the incident. The injured were sent to Cyberjaya, Serdang and Putrajaya Hospitals for further treatment, while another 49 victims received initial treatment at the Sri Maha Kaliamman Temple, Subang Jaya. – Bernama