Highland Towers collapse

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The Highland Towers collapse was an apartment building (condominium) collapse that occurred on December 11, 1993, in Taman Hillview, Ulu Klang, Selangor, Malaysia. The collapse of one block caused the deaths of 48 people and led to the complete evacuation of the other two blocks due to safety concerns.

The Highland Towers were three blocks of 12-story apartment, each block was respectively named Block 1, Block 2 and Block 3. Block 1 collapsed when 10 continuous days of rainfall led to a landslide after the retaining wall at the Tower's car park failed.

After the tragedy, The Highland Towers memorial was placed at the site of Block 1.

The Highland Towers still stand today, although they are now almost completely overgrown by the Jungle. In recent years, they have been the site of much vandalism and the buildings are now in almost complete disarray and ruin. Rather eerily, the abandoned towers continue to loom out of the green density of the jungle, looking out over the Taman Hillview area.

[edit] Cause of structural failure

As the investigation showed, the main cause of the structural failure was improper construction of the pilings. The investigative teams found that the piling structure was too short for a building of its height.

Later they interviewed the construction company and found the contractor had reduced the depth of piling for some areas after they found that the soil conditions made piling more difficult. Investigators concluded that much of the soil at the construction site was not hard soil, but actually solid rock.