Canine Assistance in Kampar - New Straits Times Press

CANINE ASSISTANCE: A search and rescue team using a specially trained dog to find corpses in the river where the suspension bridge at a campsite collapsed last night; two children are missing and one drowned. The children were among 298 others who were attending a four-day motivational programme at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Dipang. - NST picture by Rosdan Wahid

'Pupils were jumping, playing on bridge before collapse'

2009/10/27

KAMPAR, Tues: Between 30 and 50 pupils were on a newly built suspension bridge when it collapsed last night into the swift-flowing Kampar River at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Dipang near here, causing one pupil to drown and two more are still missing.

A pupil, K. Mathivanan, 12, who held onto a rope and saved himself, said the bridge collapsed all of a sudden, about 10.30pm.

He said some of the pupils were crossing the bridge towards the school for their dinner, while others were returning to the campsite.

He said the bridge had swayed a lot before it collapsed as several of the pupils were jumping about and playing with one another.
K. Mathivanan, 12, who held onto a rope and saved himself, said bridge had swayed a lot before it collapsed as several of the pupils were jumping about and playing with one another.
K. Mathivanan, 12, who held onto a rope and saved himself, said bridge had swayed a lot before it collapsed as several of the pupils were jumping about and playing with one another.


"All of a sudden, we found ourselves thrown into the river. I managed to hold on to a rope. The current was swift but I managed to drag myself out of the water," he said.

Mathivanan said joy turned to panic as many of the pupils started screaming for help while others just cried.

He was one of the 298 pupils from 60 primary schools in Kampar, Tronoh and Batu Gajah who were to have begun a 1Malaysia Camp co-curriculum activity organised by the Kinta Selatan District Education Department there.

The bridge, above 50 metres long, was built about two weeks ago to replace an old one which had collapse, said a member of the school's Parent-Teacher Association.

The bridge links the campsite to the Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Dipang where dinner was held for the pupils.

A teacher, Mohd Safri Abdul Rafar, said he was not far from the bridge when it collapsed and quickly jumped over a fence and dived into the river in the attempt to rescue the pupils. -- Bernama


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Tribute To Rescue Dogs' Work on PJ Jaya Supermarket Tragedy

PETPOSITIVE SAYS:

Friends, I was there nearly two hours after the building collapsed yesterday afternoon. As MBPJ Councillor, I was able to access through the police and MBPJ blocks to get near to the area.

However, I wasn't able to get close to where my able-bodied Councillors and other VIPs were because PJ Police Inspector stopped me.

He advised that it would be much too dangerous for me in my wheelchair should more parts of the building collapse when I was there.

I decided to take his advice and joined the crowd who were cordoned away at a safe distance from the rubble and building.

I wanted to take pictures for this blog but decided against it in respect for the victims of the disaster, especially the dead.

I could sense the relief most of us had that we were not under the rubble. And just as the police inspector warned, another section at that moment cascaded with a loud crash on the ground.

There were soot on some of the rescue vehicles that were parked and awaiting to speed off the victims to the nearest hospitals.

Earlier whilst rushing to the scene in our MBPJ van, I was disgusted at the general traffic's lethargy on the road to move away to let the rescue vehicles through.

Even if they didn't know of a disaster just yet, the vehicles had their siren on and that obviously meant that something was amiss.

Although at blog time it appears as if all the casualties were only foreign workers, let's not forget that they are people too - with wives, children, fathers and mothers and also friends.

The Selangor Government as done the right thing to issue an immediate stop work order.

Petpositive applauds all the rescue dogs and their trainers that were called in to search and find the victims trapped under the rubble.

The canines's job is the most important one of all in all disaster situations of this kind and yet we often fail to appreciate their work and role in rescue work in Malaysia

Let's hope for more survivors - and that the Selangor Govt will help in the finances of the victims and their families.

Below the the MB's statement on the issue.

aNthoNy sb thaNasayaN
PET+BLOGSPOT


PRESS STATEMENT by the Selangor Government:
May 29, 2009
Stop work order on the Demolition of Jaya supermarket building
SHAH ALAM: The State Government here today issued a stop-work order for the demolition of Jaya
Shopping Centre to allow investigations to find out the cause of the collapse which cost two lives while five
others are still missing. Until the causes of the collapse are determined, only search and rescue work is
allowed to continue.
The decision was made following a briefing on the tragedy by Petaling Jaya City Hall engineering unit,
Institute Kerja Raya Malaysia (IKRAM), Department of Occupational Safety and Hazard (DOSH) at the
Selangor Economic Action Council meeting (MTES) this morning.
The State has ordered MBPJ’s engineering unit and IKRAM to conduct the investigations and submit a
detailed report for the MTES on next Friday. MBPJ has been instructed to monitor the area round the clock to
ensure that no machinery or equipment used for the demolition of the building be taken out of the site. The
area will also be cordoned off for public safety.
The state has also ordered MBPJ to treat all the deceased with dignity in accordance to their religious belief
and ensure that their next-of-kin are kept well-informed on the development of the tragedy. The city hall will
also be working closely with the Indonesian Embassy on this matter.
An information centre will be set up near the tragedy site so that the victims’ families and nearby residents
can monitor the development of the search and rescue work.
The city hall will be sending flyers to nearby residents to inform them of the actions taken by the state
authorities to ensure their safety. We appeal to residents to cooperate with the relevant authorities to avoid any
further mishaps and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SEKRETARIAT AKHBAR, PEJABAT MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR, TINGKAT 20, BANGUNAN SULTAN SALAHUDDIN ABDUL AZIZ SHAH,
40502 SHAH ALAM, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA. TEL: 603-554470032 FAX: 603-55109686
Today’s briefing by MBPJ, IKRAM and DOSH has revealed a serious lack of proper guidelines in monitoring
demolition of buildings. The State Government intends to rectify to ensure that such tragedy does not recur
and affect future development plans in Selangor.
THANK YOU.
TAN SRI ABDUL KHALID IBRAHIM
DATO MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR


PET+BLOGSPOT is the online blog of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive) You may also visit our homepage which is www.petpositive.com.my

bbc online: China Rescue Dogs for Beijing Olympics

QUICK COMMENT:

LET'S FACE IT: WHEN IT COMES TO ANIMALS, NONE ARE QUITE AS ADEPT AT PERFORMING THEIR TASKS AS THOSE LOVABLE AND UNCANNY CANINES!

Malaysia still has a long way to go before dogs are given the proper respect and recognition they deserve in helping human beings.

Here is a highly impressive dog-rescue training operation planned ahead of the Beijing Olympics from August 08 until 24. We hope, of course, that all the dogs in the video are treated with utmost loving care in their training.

Enjoy!

aNt
PET+BLOGSPOT

Rescue dogs train for Olympics

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A 17-strong dog squad are training to help authorities in the event disaster should strike during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The dogs' training includes searching and positioning, alarm barking, field rescue, and basic physical strength and endurance exercises every day.

Dogs being trained include German shepherds, labradors, retrievers and springer spaniels.

There is no commentary with this clip.