Injured S'porean: 'I saw blood all over me'

An extremely loud explosion, followed by chaos.

This was how a witness described the scene after a pre-dawn grenade blast injured 13 people, including a Singaporean, in front of a pub near Jalan Bukit Bintang, at the heart of Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.

One of the injured victims, Malaysian car jockey Tiong Kwang Yie, 36, from Sarawak, later died.

The witness, who wanted to be known only as Shaun, told Malaysian reporters that he was on night duty at a nearby hotel when he heard the loud blast at 4.15am. He went to investigate.

Malay Mail Online reported him as saying: "I saw people injured, (with) blood on their faces and legs. Some were knocked down. "People were running around. They were helping each other. The police came in five to 10 minutes."

The chaos happened when one of two hand grenades, believed to have been hurled from the second storey of the Sun Complex, exploded in Jalan Bintang, off Jalan Bukit Bintang, an area popular with tourists and shoppers, reported News Straits Times.

Police recovered the second grenade, which had failed to detonate, under a Toyota Camry that had been damaged when the first one exploded, it said.

Media reports said that besides the Camry, three other cars - a Toyota Vellfire, a Mazda 2 and a BMW - were also damaged by the explosion.

Malaysian Berita Harian reported that a witness, who was waiting for his car, saw something fall from the second storey of the complex and explode.

The area was cordoned off to the public and a police forensic team was there combing the area for clues and interviewing witnesses.

Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Gan Kong Meng said the police had received a complaint at 4.25am and sent a despatch to the Cherry Blossom nightclub to ascertain the damage, reported The Malaysian Insider.

Four foreigners - a Singaporean, a Thai national and two Chinese nationals - were among those injured, said Kuala Lumpur CID deputy chief, Assistant Commissioner Khairy Ahrasa.

He told The New Paper: "It involved two grenades. The first one exploded at about 4.20am while the other one, which was intact, was found under a Toyota Camry car at about 7am. It was detonated at about (noon)."

He also said the car jockey died at about 10am from serious injuries to the face.

The victims, aged between 20 and 42, were taken to the nearby Tung Shin private hospital, Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) and Gleneagles Hospital (Kuala Lumpur) for treatment, he added.

A spokesman for HKL said a Singaporean victim being treated there had minor injuries.

VICTIM

In an online report last night, The Straits Times quoted the victim, identified as Mr Wong Kim Teng, 67, as saying: "I was just getting to my car when suddenly there was an explosion.

"It was like thunder. And then suddenly I saw blood all over me."

He added that he had five stitches for his leg injuries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said the Singapore High Commission in KL was, so far, aware of only one Singaporean affected.

Replying to e-mail queries, an MFA spokesman said: "Officials from the High Commission have visited the injured Singaporean, who is currently receiving treatment for non-critical injuries.

"The High Commission has been in contact with the Malaysian authorities, and is seeking confirmation on whether there have been any other Singaporeans affected."

This article was first published on October 10, 2014.
Get The New Paper for more stories.