KUALA LUMPUR: It's been a week since the search and rescue (SAR) team has been involved in the search for an Indian woman who fell into an eight-metre deep sinkhole while walking along Jalan Masjid India, but they are not giving up hope and continue to work day and night to find the victim.
Yesterday, as early as 2am, the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department's (JPBM) Diving Team had dived into the sewage channel at the location of the incident after an object was detected to have stuck between the location of the clear soil and the second sewage tunnel.
However, the two JPBM divers had to face the challenge of strong currents in the sewer, causing them to cancel the mission to reach the location of the object that was reported to be stuck.
Yesterday afternoon, Firefighters were seen taking turns entering the Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) sewage treatment plant in Pantai Dalam, which is understood to be as deep as a five-story building, to continue searching for the victim.
Based on Bernama's survey at the location, no less than three firefighters equipped with personal protective clothing (PPE), carrying oxygen tanks and breathing apparatus took turns to enter the plant involved with each round of search estimated to take an hour.
Despite being faced with the challenge of poisonous gases such as hydrogen sulfide gas and methane gas which are flammable, the SAR team still perseveres in carrying out the responsibilities entrusted to it.
Yesterday, the SAR team also managed to detect a 15 meter long 'backlog' or pile in the sewer at Wisma Yakin, about 44 meters from the main location of the incident, as a result of two water barrel discharge tests conducted on the first and second day at the location in question.
Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department Director General Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad said if the backlog is successfully resolved, the entire surface of the sewage pipe will be visible before the diving team can carry out the task of searching for the victim.
Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa through a statement yesterday also stated that the operation to search for the victim will continue.
However, such a decision will be made based on factors of interest and safety of the public, especially around Jalan Masjid India.
Meanwhile, in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said there is no need to declare the Masjid India area as unsafe or disaster zone.
He said to declare an area as not safe, the police need to obtain special permission from the National Security Council (MKN). – BERNAMA