There was no incident of the ceiling collapsing at the Taman Pulai Indah mosque, here, last Thursday, as viraled on social media since yesterday.
Instead, Johor Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman Mohd Fared Mohd Khalid said what happened was a few ceiling panels fell during the process of bringing down the entire ceiling.
He said the mosque management had taken immediate action to appoint an external contractor after noticing that the ceiling was in poor condition since last month.
“Actually, the video that went viral was not very accurate, it (the ceiling) did not collapse, only a few panels gave way while contract workers were taking down the ceiling.
“As such, stop sharing the video and I urge the public not to make any speculations,” he told reporters after visiting the mosque here today.
Mohd Fared said the Johor Islamic Religious Department (JAINJ) together with the Public Works Department (JKR) had been instructed to carry out a thorough inspection to ensure the mosque is safe.
Meanwhile, the mosque chairman Alpian Jamid, said work on taking down the entire ceiling was carried out after a few panels fell.
“The video was taken for record purposes and was not meant for public circulation,” he said adding that for now, a tent has been set up in the mosque compound for the congregation to perform obligatory and Friday prayers.
The mosque, which was constructed in 2015 and completed two years later, is able to accommodate about 3,000 worshipers at any one time.
Earlier, a two-minute video footage showing the roof of the mosque collapsing and female worshipers rushing out after performing their prayers, was shared widely on social media.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
