KUALA LUMPUR: The technical investigation report into the Putra Heights gas pipeline explosion is scheduled to be completed tomorrow, but is only expected to be released next week.

Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari's press secretary, Jay Jay Denis, said that once the probe was completed, the investigation team would begin compiling the report.

"The findings will be announced soon. Possibly next week," he told the New Straits Times when contacted. He said Amirudin made the commitment that the report will be made publicly available.

"He is also considering an independent panel of experts to review the findings in the report," he said.

It was reported on June 3, that the technical investigation report into the Putra Heights gas pipeline explosion was expected to be completed by June 26.

Amirudin had said then that the criminal investigation could not yet be disclosed, as it must be consolidated with the technical findings before being made public.

"As for the criminal investigation, we are unable to release it at this stage, as it needs to be integrated with the technical findings. Certain aspects still require identification and verification under the criminal probe," he was quoted saying.

This included evaluating the structural integrity of the pipeline, potential soil movement, and whether external activities might have contributed to the incident.

A day earlier, Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan had said the cause of the explosion — whether due to excavation works or other factors — would be confirmed upon completion of investigations by both the police and Occupational Safety and Health Department (DOSH).

The explosion at the Petronas gas pipeline on April 1 was followed by a massive fire, the flames of which shot so high into the sky that they were visible from several kilometres away.

The intense heat from the fire melted plastic and metal across a wide radius surrounding the pipeline.