Clearing works being done to facilitate the recovery of the worker and the machinery.
KUCHING (Sept 13): A worker, still inside the cabin of an excavator, was buried under large rock debris after a quarry at Kampung Tanjung Durian in Bau near here late this afternoon.
A distress call was received at 3.18pm by Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Sarawak Operations Centre, which then mobilised a team from Bau station to the site, located at Jalan Tanjung Durian.
“The excavator operator is identified as Anthony Kanna, aged 48. It is said that he and the heavy machinery are buried under a pile of large boulders,” said Bomba Sarawak.
It is learnt that the worker was manoeuvring the excavator to do some levelling works before the site collapsed.
The circle indicates the spot where the victim and the excavator were last seen before the collapse that struck the quarry at Jalan Tanjung Durian.
“Earlier (yesterday), there were bombing activities conducted by the company at the quarry area – this might have compromised the rock structure, making it unstable and leading to the collapse,” it said, adding that four excavators and a bulldozer belonging to the company were being used to do clearing works to pave way to the site where the worker and his machinery were last seen before the collapsed – about 50m from the on-site control post.
“The firefighters can only conduct on-site safety monitoring as the operation to recover the victim is underway,” it said.
The site-levelling works on the quarry stopped at 4.45pm, following a downpour, and resumed at 5.30pm.
Bomba Bau chief senior assistant superintendent Tawang Lingem reported that a piling machine had been mobilised to the scene to facilitate recovery work.
“This is done to enable the installation of bombs at the site, so as to break the rocks over the spot where the victim and the machinery were buried under,” he said.
As of press time, the operation was still on-going.