A total of 36 visitors of the Taming Sari Tower in Melaka had to face the fear of heights and confined spaces when they were trapped for more than half an hour in the observation platform of the tower at a height of 60 meters, at about 5:30pm yesterday (July 2).
The victims consisted of 26 adults, 8 children, an elderly person and a differently-abled person, who all managed to later get off safely.
According to a report by Utusan Malaysia, the Chief Executive Office of Menara Taming Sari Berhad, Azlan Abidin confirmed the incident and shared that the victim were successfully rescued with help from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) without any injuries.
They are currently in the midst of waiting for a full technical report in regards to the incident.
“The tower’s observation platform got stuck at a height of 60 meters while it was heading down. The public need not worry, if the inspection finds nothing serious, the operation of the tower will continue as per usual.”
“The maintenance team took early rescue measures by using a support motor to lower the platform and all of the visitors were successfully removed in a safe condition with the help of the fire department,” he said.
In the meantime, Operations Commander from the Ayer Keroh Fire and Rescue Station (BBP), Senior Fire Chief II Abd. Rahim Ismail said that the emergency call was received at 5:58pm and a team of 7 members along with their machinery, as well as the Emergency Treatment Rescue Service Unit (EMRS) were rushed to the location.
“The tram arrived at 6:05om and all the victims were successfully removed within 5 minutes.”
“The incident is believed to have been caused by a malfunction of the tower’s system and at that time, we were worried that the victim were suffering from a lack of oxygen because the incident was said to have happened at around 5:30pm, before it was reported to the rescue team,” he explained.
We’re thankful that everyone managed to get out of the observation platform, safe and sound.
