KUALA LUMPUR: Two firemen, wearing wet suits and full-enclosure diving helmets, entered a sewage tunnel early this morning in search of the Indian tourist who fell into a sinkhole in Jalan Masjid India, last Friday.
Suit techs and safety officers were seen prepping the divers from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) Diving Team for their descent into the darkness. As their helmets were lowered and locked, and comm checks were finalised, an eerie glow lit their visors. The two men entered the hole at 3.06am, closely watched by other members of the search and rescue (SAR) team.
The two divers were part of a team of eight, assisted by 75 members in charge of safety, logistics, and equipment.
According to Bernama, the decision to go in was made yesterday, after the department detected an obstacle lodged between the clear soil and the second sewer, located approximately 80m away.
However, less than half an hour after their initial descent, the two firemen were pulled out by their team members. They then underwent a decontamination process before being debriefed.
The reason both divers were pulled out was because they were unable to get close to the location where the object was believed to have been, due to strong currents in the sewage tunnel.
As of 4.30am, there has been no official statement from JBPM to the media, who have been waiting since midnight to report on the latest SAR efforts.
Yesterday, department deputy director-general (operations) Datuk Ahmad Izram Osman said his team detected an obstacle lodged between the clear land and the second sewage tunnel, approximately 80m from the site.
He said the findings were obtained through the two Detection Unit (K9) dogs, Denti and Frankie, who were brought down to the scene last Tuesday, in addition to camera surveillance equipment.
Following the latest development, water and sewage was pumped out late last night.
In the sinkhole incident last Friday, a woman, identified as Vijayaletchumy, 48, from Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, India, fell into an 8m-deep hole. SAR operations continue for the seventh day today. -BERNAMA