KLUANG: Two policemen were injured in a landslide that occurred during a bomb detonation exercise at a disposal site on Jalan Tabah, Taman Sri Lambak, yesterday.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner Bahrin Mohd Noh said the policemen from the Bomb Disposal Unit had dug holes to place the 500-pound aerial bomb from 1952 in preparation for detonation at 2.20pm.
However, while preparing for the controlled bomb destruction, a landslide occurred, burying both men.
Bahrin said that it had rained earlier, and the ground was damp, which is believed to have caused the landslide. He added that the controlled destruction of the aerial bomb had not yet been conducted when the ground collapsed.
Corporal Muhammad Faruuqi Shamsary, 34, fractured his left thigh bone and suffered a broken rib, while 39-year-old Sergeant Abdul Halim Zainal fractured his hip and broke three ribs.
Both policemen were reported to be in stable condition and are recuperating at Enche' Besar Hajah Khalsom Hospital.
At 8.50am yesterday, Renggam police were alerted when residents found the bomb in an unused field several kilometres away from their housing estate. The police deployed their bomb disposal unit from the Kluang district police headquarters and the state police contingent headquarters to detonate the bomb.