Highland Towers collapse

The Highland Towers collapse was an apartment building collapse that occurred on 11 December 1993 in Taman Hillview, Ulu Kelang, Selangor, Malaysia. The collapse of Block One of the apartments caused the deaths of 48 people and led to the complete evacuation of the other two blocks due to safety concerns. Behind the Towers was a small stream of water known as 'East Creek'. East Creek flowed into the site of the Towers before the Towers' construction. Later, a pipe system was built to divert the stream to bypass the Towers.

In 1991, a new housing development project, known as 'Bukit Antarabangsa Development Project', commenced on the hilltop located behind the Towers. As a result, the hill was cleared of trees and other land-covering plants, exposing the soil to absorb more water. The water from the construction site was diverted into the same pipe system used to divert the flow of East Creek. Eventually, the pipe system became overly pressurized with the water, sand and silt from both East Creek and the construction site. The pipes burst at various locations on the hill, and the soil had to absorb the excessive water. The monsoon rainfall in December 1993 further worsened the situation.

The water content in the soil had exceeded a dangerous level, and the soil had literally turned into mud. By October 1992, the hill slope had been almost flooded with water, and it was reported that water was seen flowing down the hill slopes and the retaining walls. Soon after, a landslip took place and destroying the poorly-constructed retaining walls. The landslide was so strong that it has a force equivalent to 200 Boeing 747 jets. The soil rammed onto the foundation of Block One, pushing it forward for a while before causing it to snap and bringing down the apartment block.

The official death toll released by the authorities was 48, though other sources gave a number greater than 55. The victims are mainly Malaysian, with 12 foreigners (a Briton, a Japanese, 2 Indians, 2 Koreans, 3 Filipino and 3 Indonesian). A month before the building fell, in November 1993, residents began to see cracks forming and widening on the road around the Highland Towers, a sign of the collapse that sadly not much people took notice.