Highland Tower Collapse

Seventeen years ago this December, Malaysia was traumatized by a disaster that to this day remains a painful memory. At 1.35pm on 11 December 1993, a twelve-story block of apartments in Kuala Lumpur at the Highland Towers condominium suddenly collapsed, killing 48 people. In a one hour special feature, HISTORY™ retells the story of what happened that fateful day.

The primary cause of the tragic incident had been 10 days of unrelenting tropical rainfall that caused an enormous mudslide that toppled Block 1. The city's fire and rescue services faced an unprecedented situation as they struggled to find survivors in the massive heap of twisted wreckage, while relatives and friends waited desperately for news of the missing. In the aftermath of the tragedy, came an avalanche of urgent questions. Why had Highland Towers collapsed, and who should be called to account? In the first documentary account of this emotionally charged real life story, we hear the raw heart-rending stories of the men and women who lived through the tragedy and those that lost loved ones. We are taken back to the crucial hours and days – with never-before-seen footage, caught on tape by the BOMBA rescuers themselves – as emergency crews and ordinary people worked around the clock in the hope of finding survivors buried under the layers of rubble.

Some interview quotes from the documentary:

Dr Hooi Chan Ping (Resident of Block1) - “I saw it coming down in slow motion, very slow motion and then the whole building fell. After that there was complete silence, deafening silence.”

Iain Gray (Resident of Block 3) – “A lot of the family members were there and total shock, total disbelief, how can this happen to me, where are my loved ones?”

Nissa Bano (Lost her sister Anna Bano, brother-in-law and nephew) – “They heard knocking, I sort of believed that – because it is possible for somebody to be knocking in response to what people are doing on top – that gave me hope.”

Datuk Soh Chai Hock (Deputy Director, Malaysia’s Fire Services) - “Definitely very difficult for the parents, especially in our Asian tradition, the child sends the parent to the hills to be buried, the parents do not send their child to be buried.” 

Last Airtime

Thursday 21 April 12:00 AM HK/SIN/MAL 11:00 AM Thai/WIB

Thursday 21 April 6:00 PM HK/SIN/MAL 5:00 PM Thai/WIB