KUALA LUMPUR — Selangor Police Chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan has stated that Petronas has no information regarding a gas pipe leak that caused an explosion in Putra Heights earlier this week.
He explained that Petronas has a detection system in place and if any leaks occur, they would be able to detect them through their control centre.
However, he added that investigations are ongoing to determine whether a leak actually occurred.
“As of now, Petronas has no information about a leak. If there was a leak, they would be able to detect it at their control centre. They have a detection system, and if there was a drop in pressure, they would know. So, we are still investigating whether a leak occurred or not.
“There are many things that need to be done, and we can only know this after we excavate the area where the explosion occurred,” he said at a press conference here today.
Hussein said that Petronas had informed them that the pipe was 30 years old, having been installed in 1991.
“Police will look at the data available in the Petronas system. The flow or alignment of the gas pipeline from Kerteh Terengganu, to here and to Segamat, Johor, continues north to Perlis and Thailand.
“In that time, there has never been (a leak) but this is the third incident if you count the incidents in Sabah and Sarawak, but they were caused by earthquakes,” he said.
Asked whether the excavation work was carried out on reserve land, Hussein said: “That is still under investigation.”
He also said that, based on information from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM), there were three elements that caused the gas explosion.
“Gas, oxygen and also the initial (spark). If only gas leaks, it won’t explode unless there is an initial (spark).
“So we need to investigate if the gas leaked, what caused the leak in that area,” he said.
Asked whether the final investigation report would be made public, Hussein said that the state government would decide on that later.
“From time to time, we will reveal the results of the investigation, and usually we will announce the final report, but let the technical committee and the state government decide,” he said.
Last Tuesday, a gas pipeline fire occurred in Putra Heights, Selangor, causing significant damage and forcing some residents to be evacuated to a temporary evacuation centre (PPS).
The fire in the 500-metre-long Petronas gas pipeline, which started around 8 am, caused flames to rise high, visible for several kilometres. — April 4, 2025