The Malay Mail – Evidence ‘blown up’

November 23, 2011

Dateline 2011-11-08:

The key evidence which could have pinpointed the cause of the explosion at the Empire Shopping Gallery on Sept 28 is believed to have been wiped out in the blast.

The Energy Commission of Malaysia said such was the devastation caused by the blast that it is facing an arduous task in trying to determine the origin of the explosion.

Its gas safety head, Yusni Sharif, said the blast, which occurred at 3.30am, was so extensive that any clues such as gas pipes, CCTV systems and partitions in the affected part of the building were either destroyed or heavily damaged.

“The evidence (we have) is not helping us at all. It’s not easy to put the puzzle together,” he said after officiating at a gas safety workshop organised by the Malaysian Association for Shopping and Highrise Complex Management here last week.

Yusni said the commission was trying its best to gather more concrete evidence and it would “take some time” to conclude its investigations.

“Information from witnesses is also not giving us a proper insight into the explosion,” he told The Malay Mail.

He said the commission had three months to wrap up the investigations.