Man dies after being struck by falling stone

[Ma Chao]

Sunday October 24, 2010

Man dies after being struck by falling stone

By CHRISTINA CHIN
[email protected]

GEORGE TOWN: A 60-year-old man was killed after being hit by a stone said to have been thrown from the 21st floor of a low-cost block of flats in Jalan Sungai. Koay Chin Chai, a teksi sapu driver, was opening his car boot when the palm-sized piece of masonry fell on his head. He was waiting for a passenger when the incident happened at about 4.30pm. It is learnt that construction work was going on in a unit on the 21st floor.

Untimely death: Curious onlookers crowding around the crime scene at Jalan Sungai in Penang yesterday evening.

His son Hock Beng, 33, who rushed to the scene with his mother, refused to believe that the mishap was an accident. “How can it be an accident? Someone threw a rock at him!” he cried out loud. “I told him not to do such work as our children earn enough to take care of us,” Koay’s wife, who did not want to be named, said.

Kampung Maqbul Village Safety and Security Committee chairman Shahrudin Mohd Shariff said Koay’s wallet and handphone were stolen from him after he fell. “Such an irresponsible act has robbed a man of his life,’’ he said, adding that an aquarium was among the items that had been thrown from above previously.

Shahruddin said Koay had regular passengers in the area. “He was very kind and would help the disabled and drive people to hospital.” The Chief Minister’s political secretary Ng Wei Aik, who is also the Komtar assemblyman, urged the Penang Municipal Council to investigate the matter.

“We want to know if the contractor had followed safety procedures,” he said. George Town OCPD Asst Comm Gan Kong Meng said the case would be investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. “The stone was about 14cm by 10cm in size and weighed about 280 grams,” he said.

 

[floorfilla]

This time, a flying screwdriver


Published: Monday October 25, 2010 MYT 3:38:00 PM

This time, a flying screwdriver

By ANN TAN

GEORGE TOWN: Just 48 hours after a falling stone killed a man at the Jalan Sungai low-cost flat, a screwdriver came flying down Monday, narrowly missing a housewife and her brother’s two children. Sharifah Mydin Kutty, 27, was shocked to see her car’s windscreen smashed by the screwdriver just after she got out of the vehicle to collect the schoolbags from the boot for the two kids at about 3pm. On Saturday, 64-year-old Koay Chin Chai died after he was hit on the head by a stone measuring 14cm by 10cm and weighing about 280gm.

 

[Da Qiao]

Daughter wants low-cost flat stone thrower caught


Monday October 25, 2010

Daughter wants low-cost flat stone thrower caught

GEORGE TOWN: The eldest daughter of the man who died after he was hit by a stone from a block of low-cost flats has asked the police to catch the culprit. Koay Hwa Hwa, 38, said her father Koay Chin Cai, whom she said lived up to his name in Hokkien, did not deserve to die in such a manner.

“He never scolded his children and loved my mum a lot. He was planning to go on an overseas trip with her this coming Chinese New Year. “We want the culprit punished so that it will serve as a lesson to other irresponsible residents. “Just because of their laziness in disposing their garbage properly, a healthy man who was a good father and husband has died,” she said at the Penang Hospital mortuary here yesterday.

Her 64-year-old father died after he was hit by a stone measuring 14cm by 10cm in size from a block of low-cost flats in Jalan Sungai at about 5.30pm on Saturday. Koay, a teksi sapu driver, was waiting for a passenger when the incident occurred. His wallet and handphone were also stolen. A post-mortem revealed that he died of severe head injuries. Koay leaves behind a wife, two daughters, two sons and four grandchildren.

The flats’ residents association chairman Shaifful Sham Salleh said this was not the first time a stone had “flown down” although only vehicles had been damaged before. “We have asked the Penang Municipal Council to install CCTV cameras,’’ he said. George Town OCPD Asst Comm Gan Kong Meng said police were investigating the case.

 

[Cao Pi]

‘Flying’ screwdriver nearly hits housewife and kids at Penang flats


Tuesday October 26, 2010

‘Flying’ screwdriver nearly hits housewife and kids at Penang flats

GEORGE TOWN: First, a falling stone kills a man. Now, a “flying” screwdriver narrowly misses a housewife and two children. Just 48 hours after Koay Chin Chai died when he was hit by a palm-sized stone, Sharifah Mydin Kuppiy nearly met the same fate – this time in full view of several councillors and pressmen. The 27-year-old housewife was shocked to see that a screwdriver had cracked her car’s windscreen at the Jalan Sungai flats at about 2.45pm.

Narrow miss: Sharifah Mydin showing the damage to her car windscreen after it was hit by a screwdriver (inset) at the Jalan Sungai flats in Penang yesterday.

Sharifah said if they had stood next to the windscreen, she and her brother’s two children could have been the next victims of a “flying” object. “We don’t want to be living in fear everyday,” she said, adding that a flower pot landed next to her while she was carrying a baby on Oct 19. Several pressmen, Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) councillors and council officers, who were scheduled to be there for a press conference over the falling stone tragedy, were shocked to witness the latest incident.

On Saturday, Koay, 64, died after he was hit on the head by a falling stone measuring 14cm by 10cm and weighing about 280g. Kampung Maqbul Village Security and Development Committee chairman Shahrudin Mohd Shariff, who has been living in the block of flats for 10 years, said he once came across a mini aquarium falling and landing next to him. “One day, residents may have to wear a helmet when walking around the block,” he said.

MPPP public health and finance standing committee member Ong Ah Teong said the council, which manages the block of flats, would install six CCTV cameras at strategic locations by the end of the year. He said they were considering fixing a wire netting measuring 1.2m by 1.8m to cover the grilles of the 529 units and also extending the awning at the front portion of the flat.

“We will impose a RM50 fine on those who simply throw rubbish,” he said, adding that repeat offenders might also be barred from staying in the flats. Meanwhile, the windscreen of a car parked below a block of flats in Bandar Baru Air Itam was smashed after a steel bar of a window pane fell on it. Lim Lee Kheng, 38, whose sister owns the car, said it happened at about1.40pm on Sunday. A police report was lodged.