KUALA LUMPUR: Video footage of the incident where a sinkhole suddenly emerged and swallowed a foreign woman has been revealed by the Fire and Rescue Department.
The 31-second closed-circuit television camera video clip shows the woman walking along the pedestrian path there behind two other people.
The woman who was wearing a saree can be seen carrying a handbag and was walking toward a stone bench.
Just as she was about to reach the bench, the ground around her suddenly sank and she disappeared into the hole.
Another man who was sitting on the bench was also seen almost swallowed by the sinkhole.
He can be seen struggling to climb out to safety just as the video ends.
It was reported that a search and rescue operation was underway for a 48-year-old woman who fell into a sinkhole along Jalan Masjid India today.
The Fire and Rescue Department was alerted to the incident by a distress call at 8.22am.
The sinkhole, located near the Malayan Mansion on Jalan Masjid India, is about eight metres deep.
The woman, an Indian national, is believed to still be trapped in the sinkhole.
Earlier, Dang Wangi police chief Assistant Commissioner Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman said 90 personnel from various agencies have joined the SAR operation.
"Based on eye witness accounts of the incident, a search was immediately activated for the woman.
"The agencies involved in the search and rescue efforts so far are the police, Fire and Rescue Department, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Civil Defence Force and Kuala Lumpur Hospital," he told reporters at the scene.
"We will look at CCTV footage and take statements from witnesses to get a clearer picture of what occurred," he said.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Rozihan Anwar Mamat said a manual search has failed to locate the victim.
"We will be bringing in heavy machinery next and a Kuala Lumpur City Hall excavator will help us in digging a wider area where the sinkhole occurred in search of the victim," he said.
Sulizmie Affendy said they were in talks with other agencies involved on safety concerns in the area following the emergence of the sinkhole.
"For now we have not come to a decision on if the area will be cordoned off as we feel that it is still safe.
"A proper analysis of the area will be conducted and if necessary, we will close off the area. We will update the media if this happens," he said.