Malaysia swallowed up a 48-year-old Indian woman in an eight-meter deep sinkhole on Friday. The woman fell into the sinkhole that opened up under the pavement in the Masjid India neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur and now rescuers are working towards saving her. This happened after the Klang and Gombak main rivers overflowed due to heavy rains. Which led to flash floods hitting the district on Thursday.
The Special Tactical Operation and Rescue Team (STORM) and K-9 units are trying to rescue her. “An adult female victim aged 48 who is Indian fell into a hole and was buried underground,” said Mohd Riduan Akhyar, the Operation Commander from Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department.
The site received an emergency call at around 8:22 am and 15 rescuers were dispatched to her assistance. She may have been a tourist simply because she was walking alongside her family as they walked past this sinkhole. On-site, there were ladders and excavators used to reach down into the collapsed ground.
The place where it happened is located on busy street between shopping centre and Mosque Masjid India near Malaysia’s Independence Square in central Kuala Lumpur. There are many worshippers that are attracted to this mosque as well as open square every Friday.
What is a sinkhole?
Sinkholes happen when soil’s surface layer collapses down. The collapse of carbonate rocks leads to most cases of such holes happening.
