Sinkhole incident: 72 hours after search began, no new clues

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 – After 72 hours, the search and rescue (SAR) operation to find 48-year-old Indian tourist Vijayaletchumy, who fell into a hole under her feet along Jalan Masjid India on Friday, has not yielded any new clues.

The SAR team began its search today at 9:30 a.m. with 104 members of various security agencies and bodies, but was unable to obtain any results even after a further search of five of six sewage wells belonging to the Indah Water consortium today.

A meeting of the authorities, including the Fire and Rescue Service, Civil Defence Force, Police, Kuala Lumpur City Hall and IWK, was then held. The meeting was chaired by Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Dr Maimunah Mohd Shariff. At the meeting, it was decided to apply the flushing technique to the fifth and sixth shafts near Bank Pertanian Lebuh Pasar Besar and Kinabalu Roundabout. It was previously observed that the flow at the two shaft openings was quite slow, which could be due to blockages or debris.

The operation, coordinated by an IWK team, began last night and is currently still ongoing.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who has been monitoring the progress of the operation, announced today that the search for the victim would continue. Dangi Wangi District Police Chief ACP Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman made similar assurances during a press conference this evening, stating that the SAR team had not set a deadline for the search and it would continue until the victim was found.

Meanwhile, residents of the 160-unit Malayan Mansion complex expressed concern for their safety as the sinkhole that occurred on Friday was no more than 50 metres away, saying that the heavy rains of the past few days could affect the soil structure in the area.

However, Maimunah has assured that Kuala Lumpur, including Jalan Masjid India, is safe and that there is no concrete evidence to support claims circulating online that a massive sinkhole could appear in the city at any time.

The authorities have also taken steps to set up a task force comprising relevant agencies, including the Geology Department and the Construction Department, to investigate the situation. — Bernama