GAS PIPELINE FIRE SPEWS SAND, GRAVEL OVER HOUSES LOCATED MILES AWAY

KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 (Bernama) -- The gas line fire incident that occurred at Jalan Putra Harmoni, Putra Heights on the morning of the second day of Aidiliftri today was a rather 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. 

Private sector worker, Nor Azian Jamil, 51, who lives in Kampung Seri Aman, Puchong, said that although she lives about six kilometres from the scene, the effects of the fire still reached his village 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. 

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Speaking to Bernama, she said that not only that, the heat was also felt in her village due to the fire.

A survey through social media also found that many users 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, for a long time we saw sand rain said my husband".

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

A total of 112 victims and 49 houses were affected in the incident and 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