With 14 years of experience operating the monorail, Zahiruddin's quick actions managed to save over more than 34 passengers lives during the incident. As reported by Berita Harian, Zahiruddin stated that he knew that the track area around Jalan Sultan Ismail is surrounded by many large trees and he is always more cautious when driving the train around that area. While an incident similar to this happened in 2015, on this occasion, he was able to stop much quicker.
"Now we have a four-car train and the system used is the latest and sophisticated. During the 2015 incident, I braked from a distance of 50 meters and the train actually stopped in front of the tree."
"Unlike that time, I braked manually and after five seconds, the train stopped," he said.
Taking to his Facebook page, Transport Minister Anthony Loke shared the press conference video where he bestowed the certificate of appreciation to the much deserving captain.
Loke thanked the captain as well as the other monorail staff who had assisted in the situation, transferring passengers to other services to continue their journey which was disrupted due to the incident
Taken aback by this honor, 40-year-old Zahiruddin never expected to receive a commendation of this manner from the Ministry of Transport.
"I feel really appreciated and it is an honor because it (the award) is not a small thing, I didn't expect anyone to see it," he stated.
On May 7, disaster struck as a large tree fell during a thunderstorm at around 2pm along Jalan Sultan Ismail, forcing four monorail stations including Bukit Nanas, Raja Chulan, Bukit Bintang and Imbi stations to temporarily halt their service.
The incident unfortunately resulted in the death of a 47-year-old train driver, with two others being injured.
(Source : Berita Harian)
