A BANGLADESHI worker died tonight after being buried in rubble when a part of the construction site for an electrical substation on Jalan Cochrane collapsed today.

Pudu Fire and Rescue Department Chief Armdan Mahat confirmed that the worker in his 20s died on the spot when the floor he was standing on gave way and the metal reinforcement beams, wet cement and scaffoldings trapped him.

“He was on the third floor, layering the cement when he fell to the first floor. He was alone but four other workers were standing at the side while the area he was standing on collapsed.

“The beams, scaffolding and cement came crashing down on him,” he told reporters when met outside the accident site.

Armdan added that authorities were still trying to extract the victim’s body and the process night take another one to two hours.

He clarified that the four other workers escaped unscathed from the incident.

Armdan also said the extraction process was tedious as the rescuers were trying to remove the debris manually as they fear parts of the building might further collapse.

“The challenges we face is the debris crushing the victim, along with the wet cement. We are not sure the weight of the rubble.

“We have to remove the rubble manually, in fear of other parts giving way,” he added.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd earlier in a statement said the incident occurred around 5.30pm which saw the third floor of the four-storey building collapsing onto the first floor.

TNB said the the cave-in happened when the contractor was pouring concrete on the third floor of the building.

The substation is located beside the Cochrane Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) station and is named after the station.

MRT in a statement tonight has already denied being linked to the construction in any way. – January 9, 2018.