Highland Towers collapse


The Highland Towers collapse was an apartment building collapse that occurred as a result of a major landslide on 11 December 1993 in Taman Hillview, Ulu Klang, in Selangor, Malaysia. The collapse involved Block 1 of the Highland Towers, resulting in the deaths of 48 people and led to the complete evacuation of the remaining two blocks due to safety concerns.
The Highland Towers consist of three similar 13-story blocks, built in phases between 1974 and 1982 at the western base of a steeply sloped hill which was later terraced extensively in the early 1980s. These towers were home to affluent middle-class families; a sizeable percentage of the residents were expatriates.
Each block was respectively named:
A swimming pool was located between northwest side of Block 2 and northeast rear of Block 3.
Block 1 collapsed after 10 continuous days of rainfall led to a landslide after the retaining wall behind the Block 1 of Highland Tower's car park was destroyed.

Causes

Behind the Highland Towers was a small stream of water known as East Creek. East Creek flowed into the site of the Highland Towers before the construction of Highland Towers, so a pipe system was built to divert the stream to bypass the Highland Towers.
In 1991, a new housing development project, known as the Bukit Antarabangsa Development Project, commenced construction on the hilltop behind the Highland Towers. The hill was cleared of trees and other land-covering plants, exposing the soil to land erosion that is the leading factor of causing landslides.
The water from the new construction site was diverted into the existing pipe system used to divert the flow of East Creek. This overloaded the pipe system and water, sand and silt from both East Creek and the construction site of Bukit Antarabangsa infiltrated the pipes. The pipes burst at several locations on the hill, and the surrounding soil had to absorb the excessive water. The monsoon rainfall in December 1993 further worsened the situation.
The water content in the soil became over-saturated to the extent that the soil had turned viscous, in effect becoming mud. By the end of November 1993, the hill slope had been saturated with water, and water was seen flowing down the hill slopes and the constructed retaining walls.
Shortly thereafter, a landslide took place and destroyed the constructed retaining walls. The landslide contained an estimated 100,000 square metres of mud – a mass equivalent to 200 Boeing 747 jets. The soil rammed onto the foundation of Block 1, incrementally pushing it forward. After all of that constant pressure, the foundations of Block 1 snapped and in December 1993, residents began to see cracks forming and widening on the road around the Highland Towers, a forewarning of collapse. Unfortunately, there was no further investigation before Block 1 collapsed on 11 December 1993.

Collapse

On December 11, 1993, the block one of Highlands Tower which consists of 12-storey apartment building collapsed on 1:30 PM which causes many residents and people inside the building to buried under tons of concrete and steel. The rescue department then rescue peoples that are trapped inside collapsed debris. The first three survivors was rescued and initially survived, but later the Japanese woman died from her injuries.. A student who lives at bungalow near the Highlands Tower witnessed the collapse of this building and has reported to media.
On December 13, 1993, Japanese Disaster Relief Team which consists of 24 rescue members, and French Securite, a French civil defense team, arrived at the disaster scene to assist for rescue operations. Datuk Ghazali Yaacob, Police Internal Security and Public Order director, who recently taken over the position previously held by Datuk Zaman Khan, said that rescuers heard the voice of the possible survivors from third and fourth floor, while two trained German Shepherds belonging to French Securite who picked up the scent of human beings confirmed the possible survivors inside the building.
On December 15, 1993, the rescue team found an easier way to enter into collapsed building via the elevator shaft instead of the smashed-up stairways to rescue the remaining of the survivors, with another two women rescued from the scene. The rescue team also discovered the message tied to a wire to indicate signs of life on fourth floor, but the bodies could not be found.
On December 16, 1993, the French rescue team heard the knocking sounds through their detection machine within the rubble of the collapsed building. However, as they are not able to find any survivors inside the collapsed building, the rescue team then pulled out from sixth floor and above. Meanwhile, a committee was set up by residents and owners of homes at Highlands Tower to register names of those victims affected by the disaster and to represent them.
As a last attempt to save possible survivors, the French rescue team deployed heavy machinery and sniffer dogs into the collapse building. The rescue team dug the building from ground to fifth floor on December 19, 1993 and found 29 bodies near the staircase of third to fifth floors which has been decomposed. In addition, additional ten bodies were recovered from the scene. Meanwhile, the army staff placed explosives on the unaffected block two of the tower which was evacuated and found no longer safe for occupation and slated for demolition.
The rescue team ended their mission on December 22, 1993 and found only 2 survivors and 48 bodies that were declared dead, and the French Securite team returned to France.

Reaction

Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim urged that all skyscrapers and condominiums must perform stringent inspection to ensure that the building are safe for occupation. In addition, he also seeks assistance from countries with rescue squad to train local personnel who are in midst of establishing local rescue squad. Opposition leader, Lim Kit Siang of DAP has called on government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the collapse of this apartment.

Lawsuits

On October 15, 1994, six residents filed the lawsuit against developers of Highland Tower and eight other related parties including AmBank and Ampang Jaya Municipal Council for alleged negligence for more than RM 1.5 million from loss of their properties damaged from the landslides, rental fees and funeral expenses. The developers and architectural team were sued for constructing the building without regards of safety and the site conditions, the architectural plans were designed without qualification in mind and was approved by engineer without first knowing who designed the plan, and the construction company were found to used substandard materials and improper welding during construction.
On June 2, 2004, AmBank finally agreed on compensate RM 52 million to 139 residents and owners of Highlands. While some residents happy with the compensation made by AmBank, the Dr Benjamin George, Highland Towers Owners and Residents Committee chairman, stated that the claim against other parties involved were still ongoing.
On February 18, 2006, the Federal Court ruled that Ampang Jaya Municipal Council was not liable for the Highland Towers either before, during and after incident and was protected by parliamentary immunity from claims regarding incidents before the collapse of the building.

Aftermath

As all residents evacuated both block two and three on December 12, 1993 as the remaining intact building were deemed no longer safe for occupation, hence the building currently left into ruins and has becoming urban decay.
On June 11, 1994. The first memorial ceremony to remember the tragedy were held at the site of the tragedy on afternoon, where the memorial plaque was erected near the entrance to tragedy site.
On December 11, 2004, in conjunction with the eleventh anniversary of the tragedy, all former residents and victims of the Highland Towers gathered at the site as a final farewell on afternoon after an annual gathering on disaster site were held for ten years. The final farewell gathering was also attended by Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's wife.
Coinciding with the 17th anniversary of the incident, AETN's History Channel showed an hour-long documentary on the tragedy on December 11, 2010, with accounts from the victims, their families and former residents of the Highland Towers.
It was reported that AmBank is planning to sell Highland Towers and its nearby bungalow lots land through tender exercise on December 3, 2013, although no reason was given why the company did so. As the land was not sold in 2013, AmBank plan to sell the land for second time on January 5, 2017.
On March 10, 2016, the fireman who rescued the two survivors wish to get connected with the two survivors whose both currently resides in Jakarta, Indonesia. Initially it was unreachable, but they finally met with their rescuers during the TV9 televised interview in Bandar Utama on March 29, 2016.
The abandoned remaining of Block 2 and Block 3 remains inside this location, but it was closed to public access. However, this area has been subject to vandalism and the ruins is in the stage of decaying due to outside exposure to the elements. As reported by nearby residents, the remaining buildings have become a haven for criminals, drug addicts and mat rempits who use them as temporary shelters. On 12 April 2016, three criminals were fatally shot by police near the buildings. Recent attempts had been made to cordon off the compound of the towers, with a barrier gate at the only remaining access road to the towers, but the gate would eventually be tampered with to allow access, and no perimeter fencing was installed. Its prolonged use as a criminal hideout caused further calls to have been made in 2016 by residents of Taman Hillview and the neighboring Taman Sri Ukay to demolish the surviving towers.
Initially, a proposal was made on June 28, 2018 by Ministry of Housing and Local Government suggesting that the building will be demolished and will build the houses for the B40 group on the same site. The proposal to construct houses on the same site was opposed by former residents of Highland Towers citing the disasters that struck in the past and suggesting to convert into park instead. The suggestion was later changed on August 19, 2018 when the land was found to be not suitable for housing nor any buildings as per the past incidents, hence the proposal will be changed to building recreational park instead.
On September 14, 2018, the demolition of Highland Towers was supposedly taking place on October 2018 so that it can be cleared way for the redevelopment on former Highland Towers site. However, the demolition was delayed on December 11, 2018 to allow the study of building structures to take place, especially the structural integrity of the building. After the lengthy delays, the Highland Towers will be demolished by June 2019.

Urban legends

As there are multiple deaths that occurs in this area, some residents alleged that this area was haunted. This has caused many paranormal enthusiasts to visit the ruins and attempted to capture the ghost footages on their smartphone and uploaded to YouTube. Others visit this site to pray for sheer luck to win lottery. However, in 2015, when a YouTuber visit to this area to shoot the video regarding urban legends claims during nighttime, the team founds no evidence that this area was haunted. This statement was supported by nearby residents who believed no ghosts exists in that area and saying that the urban legend was designed to waste their time and those who claims that they saw ghosts are actually under their hallucination on their own.

Subsequent landslides in the vicinity

Landslides continued to occur during mid-to-late year monsoon seasons on both sides of the hill where the Highland Towers were built and at nearby hills in Ulu Klang, with some leading to fatalities: