KUCHING: A crane operator prompted a late-night rescue response after deciding to spend the night in the cabin following a misunderstanding with his site manager during drizzly weather last night (Feb 12).
The Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) said it received a distress call at 9.16pm from a construction site near Tunku Putra-HELP School, The Northbank, after the worker failed to descend at the end of his shift at 5pm and could not be contacted.
Personnel from the Tabuan Jaya station arrived at 9.25pm and climbed the narrow and slippery crane ladder before reaching the 54-metre platform at about 11.46pm.
“Firefighters prepared the necessary equipment to ascend the crane as the weather was drizzling and the ladder was narrow and slippery. After conducting a risk assessment, two personnel were deployed to climb up.
“The victim was found safe. There was a miscommunication between him and the site manager.
“He had planned to stay overnight on the crane until the following morning but did not inform the site manager and did not respond to phone calls or walkie-talkie communication,” a Bomba spokesperson said.
The worker, identified as 41-year-old Walsh Jawi, had reportedly been scheduled to come down at 5pm.
When repeated attempts to contact him failed, the site management alerted the authorities.
No rescue operation was required.
