Soft soil caused Malaysia’s huge gas pipeline fire: authorities

A high-level special committee will be formed to ensure sufficient measures are in place to prevent the incident from recurring

A massive gas inferno that rocked Malaysia in April was caused by long-term strain on the pipeline due to weak soil, authorities said on Monday, three months after over 1,000 people were evacuated as the intense heat destroyed homes and melted cars in the vicinity of the incident.

Police said there was also no evidence of negligence or conspiracy to cause the disaster that decimated parts of the middle-class enclave of Putra Heights in Selangor state and sent more than 100 people to hospital with smoke inhalation and burns.

Federal safety experts said the explosion happened in an area where the soil was waterlogged and “very soft”, causing long-term stress lines to form within the pipe from the constant movement under pressure. That led to an eventual break at the weld, which was its weakest point.

“The unstable soil surrounding the pipe was the main reason for the failure,” Husdin Che Amat, director for petroleum safety at the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, told a news conference on Monday.

The gas pipeline, operated by national energy giant Petronas, was used to deliver natural gas from its refinery in Kerteh district in northern Terengganu state to clients in the peninsula and all the way to neighbouring Singapore in the south.

Husdin said an in-depth analysis of the pipe used found that it was within specifications but had suffered from long-term fatigue as the soil in the area where the explosion happened was unable to hold it in place over an extended period of time.

“This resulted in physical failure in the pipe … causing a gas leak, which ignited,” he said.

A topographical analysis of a certain stretch of the pipeline found similar patches of weak soil.

“Over the short term, we have asked [Petronas] to identify locations that are similar to Putra Heights and take immediate action to improve [soil] conditions. Petronas has already identified the locations,” Husdin said, adding that Petronas was in the process of developing a long-term remedial plan.

No evidence of foul play

Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan said there was no evidence of foul play, particularly involving construction work above ground not far from where the explosion happened.

The contractors building a line of shoplots and installing sewage pipes were working within the buffer zone of 40 metres (131 feet) from the pipeline, he said, adding that the construction work had no direct effect on the soil surrounding the pipeline.

No explosive residue was found at the scene either, he added.

“There was no evidence of conspiracy or negligence that we could identify that could have led to the explosion,” he told the news conference.

Selangor Chief Minister Amirudin Shari said the government’s next step would be to form a high-level special committee to study all relevant aspects, from legal to safety, to make sure sufficient measures are in place to prevent a similar incident from happening again. He did not say if the committee would determine if any party was at fault.

A total of 87 houses in the immediate vicinity of the explosion and ensuing fire – which took seven hours to put out – were declared to be a “total loss”, with an additional 148 houses requiring repairs, the state government said in April.

The explosion on April 1 sent shock waves that shook homes and spread ash as far as 10km (6.2 miles) away. Videos showed a mushroom cloud rising kilometres into the sky.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said that it could take more than a year to repair the houses damaged by the blaze. The federal and state governments have pledged to provide housing help to the more than 300 families affected.