KUALA LUMPUR: The search for a woman swallowed by a sinkhole which opened up along Jalan Masjid India today, is now focused on a sewage pipe.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) said it has detected a sewage pipe, spanning 1.5-metres in diameter, as part of the underground infrastructure at the location.
Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif said the council, alongside other agencies, have been searching along the length of the pipe since this afternoon.
The victim has yet to be found.
Maimunah said no excavation activities were being conducted near the sinkhole.
She said water concessionaire company
Air Selangor has also shut off the water supply in the area.
She said Indah Water Konsortium personnel, together with the Fire and Rescue Department, are at the scene to asisst DBKL.
"DBKL has deployed its machinery and rescuers to aid in the search.
"I have also met with the victim's husband at the scene to extend my condolences and sorrow over what happened," she said in a statement.
Maimunah visited the site earlier tonight and was briefed by the authorities conducting the Search and Rescue (SAR) operation, including the police and Fire and Rescue Department.
The sinkhole, which appeared this morning, caused an Indian national in her 40s to fall into the pit.
Earlier today, city police chief Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa said that he was informed of a strong water current underneath the street and that the victim was likely swept away.
Rusdi also added that a similar sinkhole appeared last year at the same location.
However, no one was injured and the sinkhole was fixed.