MALAYSIA: SMS warnings not to use Penang Bridge

Astro news channel warns readers of the dangers of using the Penang Bridge after the tsunami but Minister says the bridge is structurally sound

The Straits Times
Tuesday, December 28, 2004

PENANG - Works Minister S. Samy Vellu has stressed that the Penang Bridge is structurally sound, after a raft of SMS-based rumours warned about the closing of the 13.5km link between the island and the Malaysian mainland.
 
Datuk Seri Samy Vellu urged motorists not to listen to rumours spread via SMS by what he termed irresponsible people.

'I have said it before and I'm saying it again...the bridge is safe and structurally sound,' he said.

Earlier, he said experts had conducted a visual inspection using special equipment and declared the bridge safe.

Yesterday, The Star was flooded by queries from the public asking the newspaper to confirm rumours about another earthquake and how Penang Bridge could be closed.

The warning, which purportedly originated from the Astro - the country's only satellite channel - was denied by the company.

The original SMS message read: 'Do not go to seaside or cross PG bridge between 7pm to 8pm. Earthquake may happen again...fr ASTRO News Pls. inform others.'

Across Malaysia's tsunami-hit areas yesterday, rescuers combed beach resorts and towns for about 100 vacationers, fishermen and villagers who went missing after tidal waves on Sunday killed at least 50 people and injured more than 220 others.

According to statistics compiled by the Malaysian authorities, there were 50 deaths nationwide as of 6pm yesterday.

The worst damage in Malaysia was in the northern states of Penang and Kedah that face the Malacca Strait, which divides the country from Indonesia.

Thirty-seven people died in Penang, nine in Kedah, three in Perak and one in Selangor, while eight people were missing in Penang and one in Perak. A total of 275 people were injured.

Thousands of people were being evacuated from Penang's usually placid north-western seaside districts hit by flash floods. The authorities have expressed fears of more tsunamis.

'I pray that there will not be another round of tidal waves,' Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in a televised statement.

On a strip of sand in Penang that locals called Miami Beach, officials have set up a makeshift command post to lead rescuers.

The Malaysian Armed Forces deployed two helicopters, 59 assault boats, a team of divers and more than 120 men to scour the water and distribute food, Bernama reported.

A 20-day-old baby survived the wave that swamped her father's food stall because the mattress she was sleeping on started floating.

'I thought I had lost both my daughters...but thank God the mattress was floating in about 1.5m of water and my baby was crying,' Mr A. Suppiah, 55, the infant's father, said.

'My other daughter, Kanchana, somehow managed to...run to safety.'

But not everyone in Penang remained despondent. Several tourists told AFP they had no intention of leaving the island early.

With jet skis and other sea toys lying mangled on the shore, they watched as search and rescue boats plying the waters off the upscale Batu Ferringhi beach brought ashore the bodies of a 70-year-old man and an eight-year-old boy.

'We are not going to leave just because of this,' said Mr Grant Brewster, a 43-year-old Briton on holiday with his wife Gennifer and their two children.

Date Posted: 12/28/2004