No, our jets didn’t cause sonic boom in Ipoh, says RMAF

 

The Royal Malaysian Air Force said there was no evidence their fighter jets or foreign aircraft were in the vicinity when an explosive sound and tremors were experienced in Ipoh yesterday.

PETALING JAYA: 

The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) today denied that the sound of explosion and tremors felt around Ipoh yesterday morning were caused by the sonic boom of military fighter jets.

The RMAF public relations division, in a statement today, said that there were no RMAF fighter jets or foreign aircraft in the country’s airspace around the area at the time of the incident.

“The RMAF requests all parties not to speculate and leave it entirely to the police to carry out investigations and identify the true cause of the incident,” the statement said, Bernama reported.

Yesterday, Perak police chief Azizi Mat Aris said police received information about the incident at 11.06am and checks with the northern brigade of the general operations force at Ulu Kinta, Ipoh, found there was no training related to the explosives on that day.

The Malaysian meteorological department said it did not detect any seismic activity in the Kinta district even though an earthquake occurred in Halmahera, Indonesia, at 11.24am.

The land and mines department also found no explosions were carried out in any of the quarries before noon yesterday.

Its Perak director, Nizarulikram Abdul Rahim, however noted that this is the third such mysterious incident in Ipoh, with similar occurrences reported in June 2012 and October 2018 – all happening around 11am.

The explosion and tremors sent office workers scurrying out of their buildings, with some speculating it was a sonic boom caused by a passing military jet.

The tremors were felt in areas such as Tasek, Meru, Falim and Manjoi, as well as by motorists on the North-South Expressway near the Menora Tunnel. - FMT