KL sinkhole: SAR team employed various methods in search, including bottle test, says IGP

KUALA LUMPUR: The search and rescue operation (SAR) team looking for the Indian tourist who was swallowed up by a sinkhole along Jalan Masjid India here on Friday (Aug 23) have employed various methods, including testing by releasing a bottle from a manhole near the sinkhole on Tuesday (Aug 27).

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said the results of the test revealed that the bottle took about four hours to reach its final destination at the Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Pantai Dalam treatment plant.

“If following the water current, about 5.3 to 6km from the sinkhole site to the IWK Pantai Dalam treatment plant,” he said after inspecting the SAR operation and visiting the victim’s family at Jalan Masjid India here on Tuesday.

He said that over 115 members of the team, from the Fire and Rescue Department, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, IWK, the People’s Volunteer Corp (Rela) were involved in the search, which entered the fifth day on Tuesday.

The team also sent cameras along the sewer line and manholes to look for the victim, he said.

“The Malaysian Nuclear Agency and the Mineral and Geosciences Department also conducted monitoring and scans at the sinkhole site today,” Razarudin said, as he advised the public to not worry about the safety of nearby locations and to not be influenced by social media claims that the Masjid India area was unsafe.

The SAR effort – which was launched on the same day that Vijayalaksmi, 48, of Andhra Pradesh, India fell into the sinkhole – has previously used flushing, sewer jetters and ground penetrating radars in their five-day search.- Bernama