KUALA LUMPUR – A total of nine vehicles were damaged by the tree that fell on Jalan Pinang here during this afternoon’s storm, causing traffic gridlock in the city centre.
The damaged vehicles were four cars and five motorcycles, KL City Hall (DBKL) said in a statement this evening.
A ficus tree fell on Pocket Park on Jalan Pinang at around 3.50pm, blocking the entire road.
“As of now, no injuries or loss of life has been reported.”
DBKL said it took about 20 workers from city hall to cut the fallen tree and branches into smaller pieces, and work to transport them away was still ongoing.
The Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department meanwhile said this afternoon’s storm and strong winds also brought havoc to other parts of the capital, felling more trees in Taman Gambia and those on the Universiti Malaya campus.
“Clearance work is underway with DBKL,” it said.
At Universiti Malaya, a fallen tree damaged a car outside the examinations building while another tree fell outside the Faculty of Medicine building, damaging another car.
In Taman Gembira, traffic on Jalan Rahmah was blocked by a fallen tree. Meanwhile, at Jalan Selesa 1 in the same area off Jalan Kuchai Lama, the storm brought down a tree on the roof of a house. No one was injured.
On May 7, a 30-year-old tree fell on Jalan Sultan Ismail during a storm, killing one person and injuring another.
17 other vehicles were also damaged in that incident.
The tree had also fallen on the monorail track, affecting service between KL Sentral and Medan Tuanku.
Following today’s storm, Federal Territories Dr Zaliha Mustafa ordered DBKL to cut down all “high risk” trees in the capital.
DBKL was also ordered to improve its tree management plan and set new guidelines for old or high-risk trees, to be ready in July. – May 13, 2024