A tourist who vanished after she fell down a 26ft sinkhole in Malaysia has still not been found. The 48-year-old Indian woman has not been seen since the pavement opened up and swallowed her as she walked through the Dang Wangi area of Kuala Lumpur on Friday. The search has been made challenging because of heavy rain and large amounts of debris in the sinkhole. Rescuers cordoned off the collapsed section and used an excavator to clear debris but there was no sign of her.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif, giving an update on the fire department’s efforts, said: ‘Today’s focus was on manhole 5 by Agro Bank and manhole 6 at Jalan Kinabalu.’ Police believe she may have been swept away by an underground water current but have vowed to continue the search until she is found. Local police chief Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman declined to comment when asked about the possible condition of the woman, or the cause of the incident.
Rusdi Mohamad Isa, head of the Kuala Lumpur police, said there was a strong water flow underground and that the woman may have been swept away. He told the national Bernama news agency the search required careful planning because it involves public infrastructure. Shutting off pipes or drains, for example, could cause flooding in the area, he said, adding: ‘We can’t act recklessly.’ Rusdi said a soil slip was reported last year in the same location where the sinkhole appeared but that it was fixed. He said businesses in the area have been advised to close temporarily for safety reasons.
A Second Sinkhole Emerges
Adding to the concerns, a second sinkhole has opened up in the same area, just 50m from where the first one swallowed the tourist. The new collapse occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, August 28, following a storm the previous night. The entire street was cordoned off to all vehicles and the public. An officer from the Mineral and Geoscience Department was seen scanning the street with a ground-penetrating radar. He was seen pausing at a location between the original sinkhole and the new one for a few minutes before stomping on the ground and jumping up and down, as if to test the integrity of the cobbled pavement.
Authorities Respond to the Crisis
Malaysia’s Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain arrived at the location at around 11.20am and inspected the new sinkhole before being briefed at the police operational tent. He did not speak to the media. In a press statement, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) said it had blocked access to the road using police lines and water barriers. “We have taken quick action, together with Indah Water Konsortium (IWK, the waste management company serving Kuala Lumpur), to inspect the sewerage pipe at the location and its surrounding areas,” said the statement.
Kuala Lumpur Mayor Maimunah Mohd Sharif gave assurances that the authorities will continue to take follow-up action with IWK and other agencies to prevent more sinkholes from forming. At a press conference later in the day, Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof gave assurances that Jalan Masjid India is still safe for the public, as long as they listen to the authorities and do not cross police lines. He added that the government will conduct an integrity audit to determine the reason behind the sinkholes appearing in Jalan Masjid India, as soon as the authorities find the missing tourist. “For now, it (Jalan Masjid India) is safe. We must conduct an integrity audit because there have been new developments (around the area). We need to find out the source (of the sinkholes). The public should be safe as long as they follow City Hall’s instructions,” said Datuk Seri Fadillah.
The Search for the Missing Tourist
The search for the missing tourist, identified as Ms Vijayaletchumy, entered its sixth day on Wednesday. Rescuers are conducting more flushing of the surrounding manholes and searching the Pantai Dalam treatment plant 7km away, where the sewer ends. The woman disappeared after falling into the sinkhole in front of the Malayan Mansion while walking to a nearby temple. She was reportedly on a two-month holiday in Malaysia with her family and was due to return home soon. Since the incident, claims from 2015 have resurfaced on social media that there was potential for a “giant sinkhole” to emerge in the Malaysian capital at any time.
But on Sunday, Kuala Lumpur mayor Maimunah Mohd Sharif said the city “remains safe unless proven otherwise by studies”. The city has been developed for a long time and claims that it was unsafe for development must be backed up by strong evidence, she said, as reported by Bernama. In response, a task force that includes the Department of Minerals and Geosciences, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, the Royal Malaysia Police and the Public Works Department has been set up to study the safety of development in the capital, she said. “Based on the current situation, Kuala Lumpur remains safe unless proven otherwise by studies,” Ms Maimunah said.
Expert Insights and Public Concerns
Speaking to The Straits Times, Professor Jeffrey Chiang Choong Luin, president of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, said the close proximity of the first and second sinkholes hints at a link between the two. “There could be a service pipe that has been compromised running underground. If it has been compromised, this would affect the soil’s integrity and the water seepage would erode the soil,” said Prof Chiang. He added that DBKL should do extensive mapping of the soil condition in the area and identify other potential hot spots, and he lauded the authorities for cordoning off the entire area for public safety.
He also cautioned people to be aware of telltale signs of potential sinkholes, such as uneven ground, cracks in buildings, water pooling in one location and tilted fences. Given that the two sinkholes might be linked, Prof Chiang did not dismiss the possibility that more sinkholes could occur between the first and second one, or that the entire stretch could collapse, creating one giant sinkhole. A staff member of the Palace Hotel in Jalan Masjid India, who wanted to be known only as Jamal, told ST he was not worried about falling into any sinkholes on the road. However, the same could not be said of guests, with the hotel seeing 20 per cent of bookings cancelled since the accident happened.
“It’s not the first time this has happened. There was a sinkhole a few months ago, there was another one last month and then the sinkhole that took the tourist and now this one. I am just cautious when I walk around, and I avoid pavements that are sunken,” said Mr Jamal. “As for the hotel, I’m confident of its foundation, since the building has been around for four decades.”
Searching Continues Despite Setbacks
On Aug 23, Ms Vijayalaksmi, a 48-year-old Indian tourist from Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, was walking in Jalan Masjid India when the ground suddenly caved in beneath her. She plummeted 8m into the hole and disappeared. Efforts to locate her have so far been futile. Search and rescue operations were called off on Aug 27 owing to heavy rain. But on Aug 28, operations to locate Ms Vijayalaksmi were back in full swing, with the police, Fire and Rescue Department, DBKL and Civil Defence Force personnel at the scene. The Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday said that authorities were continuing their search with specialised techniques for Vijaya Lakshmi Gali.
The sinkhole was created after a section of a pavement caved in. “The search continues to locate Indian citizen (Ms Vijaya Lakshmi Gali) who fell into a sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur on Friday 23 Aug. The SAR teams are methodically deducing newer probable paths and likely locations of the missing Indian national,” stated the Indian High Commission in Malaysia on X. The woman fell into the 8-metre-deep (26-foot-deep) sinkhole in the Dang Wangi area of the Malaysian capital, where local police chief Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman said witnesses saw the paved walkway suddenly collapse under her while she was walking.
After flushing parts of the drain system, the search is being intensified with “specialised techniques”. “After flushing through portions of drain system, search is being augmented with specialised techniques including high pressure water jets to remove obstacles, remote cameras and ground penetrating radars to map inaccessible areas,” the Indian High Commission in Malaysia stated in a post on X. “@hcikl is in close contact with the relevant agencies engaged in the search efforts as the search has entered its fifth day. @hcikl officers are also in touch with the family members to extend continued support,” the post added.
The Road Ahead: Concerns and Investigations
The appearance of the second sinkhole has heightened fears about the safety of the popular Jalan Masjid India area. While authorities assure the public of ongoing safety measures and investigations, the incident has raised concerns about the underlying infrastructure and the need for a comprehensive assessment of the area’s development and soil conditions. The search for the missing tourist continues, with authorities employing specialized techniques and deploying resources to uncover the truth behind her disappearance. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of natural disasters and the importance of proactive measures to ensure public safety.
