KOTA KINABALU: The “galloping” of a car from the fourth floor to the ground at a shopping complex here will likely to happen again if the safety issue on the parapet wall design is not tackled promptly by the authorities and professionals, said Ar. Victor Wong, chairman of PAM Sabah Chapter.
Wong was referring to the incident at Asia City on January 30 when a 53-year-local man was reported to have lost control of his Perodua Myvi vehicle when reversing, and crashing straight onto the “parapet” wall, before plunging four storeys down to the ground.
He pointed out that under the existing building by-laws, there is no explicit requirement that all the parapet walls are to be reinforced structurally.
As a standard practice, stiffeners are always being specified by the professionals to ensure that the parapet walls are generally safe to be used. However, these basic stiffeners will not be strong enough to withhold the impact of a crashing car.
The worrying trend is that with so many condominium projects under construction in Kota Kinabalu and other parts of Sabah, many more car parks are being stacked vertically to satisfy the car parking requirement within the limited sizes of the building lot.
Wong thus called on the local authorities to tighten the building code, to enforce that all the parapet walls are to be adequately and structurally reinforced, whether there are at the car park levels or at the balconies.
He said that un-reinforced parapet walls can be highly dangerous when accidents do occur. The falling debris or brickwork can cause serious damages to properties and life.
Deputy city police chief Superintendent M. Chandra said initial police investigation showed the man had lost control of the vehicle which then rammed into a wall before crashing to the ground floor.
He suffered serious body injuries, including broken ribs and internal bleeding, but was reported to be in stable condition after being treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.