Woman swallowed by pavement sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian authorities are working to rescue a woman who fell into an eight-metre-deep sinkhole that emerged on a busy road in Kuala Lumpur.
The 48-year-old Indian national was seated on a bench along Jalan India Masjid when the ground beneath her suddenly gave way, as reported by local police.
Social media videos depict crowds watching as rescue workers attempt to reach the sinkhole. Some are using ladders, while others employ hammers and diggers to clear the debris.
There is currently no indication of the woman’s condition.
The Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department received an emergency call at 08:22 local time (00:22 GMT) and has sent 15 firefighters to the location.
Operation commander Mohd Riduan Akhbar told local media that a search and rescue operation was being conducted.
“The Special Tactical Operation and Rescue Team of Malaysia (STORM) and the K9 unit are at the location,” he said.
Ninety personnel from various other agencies have also joined in the operation, according to local police chief Assistant Commissioner Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman.
“We will look at CCTV footage and take statements from witnesses to get a clearer picture of what occurred,” he said.
The BBC has reached out to the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department for comment.
Sinkholes generally form when underground water dissolves the rock on the surface, causing a hole to form.
Although there is no precise data globally, geologists say they are reasonably common. Human injuries, however, are very rare.
One of the worst recent sinkholes disasters in terms of casualties occurred in Canada in 2010, when a family of four died after their entire house was swallowed by a gaping sinkhole near Montreal.
The world’s largest sinkhole is Xiaoxhai Tiankeng in south-western China. With a depth measuring 660 meters, researchers believe it was formed more than 128,000 years ago.
