BAYAN LEPAS: Rescuers believe they can find the four Bangladeshi construction workers, buried under heaps of concrete beams after a building under construction near the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM) in Batu Maung near here collapsed last night, soon.
Deputy state police chief Datuk Mohamed Usuf Jan Mohamad said they had managed to remove about 80 per cent of the beams.
"Safety is our priority and we cannot compromise on that.
"We are doing our best to move the beams using cranes and have completed about 80 per cent of the works.
"After that, we can find the victims," he said when met at the scene.
Police have confirmed that three people died while two others were seriously injured when the building under construction collapsed last night.
Two of the three died at the scene while the other died at the hospital.
The two injured were being treated at the Penang Hospital.
Based on initial reports, there were 18 construction workers at the site. However, nine of them went to perform prayers.
Another nine were working below a 12m-long beam, weighing about 14 tonnes, which collapsed from a height of 20m and knocked into 14 other beams.
All the beams fell onto the workers, trapping them below.
Mohamed Usuf said police have identified the five victims found yesterday and the other four still trapped, all of whom are aged between 22 and 46.
"We are still investigating the cause of the collapse.
"The construction site has a special permit to work throughout the day, in different shifts," he added.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who was at the scene, said the beams had to move first or it could endanger the rescue team.
"They have to decide that the safety rate has been achieved so that efforts to find the victims will continue," he said.
Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk A. Rajendran said internal and external investigations would be carried out by the relevant authorities such as the Department of Occupational Safety and Health before deciding on the actions to be taken.
He said the project was supposed to be completed at the end of the year or early January.
"With this incident, it will not be able to be completed.
"During investigations, works can't continue," he said.