Indian woman vanishes into Malaysian sinkhole: Inside search and rescue ops to find Vijaya Lakshmi Gali

The search for the Indian woman who fell into a sinkhole in Malaysia continues.

Vijaya Lakshmi Gali, 48, disappeared into a sinkhole in Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur after a pavement collapse.

But what is a sinkhole? What happened? And how is the search and rescue operation going?

Let’s take a closer look:

What is a sinkhole?

As per NDTV, a sinkhole is basically a hole which seemingly appears in the ground out of nowhere.

However, it only looks like it has sprung up suddenly.

The process of a sinkhole being created happens over a period of time.

Sinkholes begin to form when a cavity begins to grow underground.

Though they become bigger over time, the surface soil remains strong enough for a ‘ceiling’ to take shape over the cavity.

However, the surface soil at some point grows weak and collapses under its own weight.

This is when the hole reveals the cavity that was hidden underneath the entire time.

The cavity can be caused by acidic rainwater and underground erosion – when groundwater removes soil from the area.

The greater the size of the cavity, the more water that fills in and the greater the chance of the sinkhole opening up.

But humans can inadvertently create sinkholes too.

A leaking underground pipe, for example, can make erosion worse and increase chances of a sinkhole being created.

What happened?

As per Moneycontrol, Vijaya Lakshmi came to Malaysia on vacation around two months ago.

She was accompanied by her husband and several friends.

They were set to return home on Saturday.

As per Straits Times, Vijaya Lakshmi was walking to a temple for breakfast when the incident occurred on 23 August.

Vijaya Lakshmi, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh’s Kuppam, suddenly disappeared as the ground gave way under her.

She fell eight feet into the hole and vanished.

The road was repaired and reopened to traffic in July, as per Moneycontrol.

An initial 17-hour search only turned up her slippers.

The six scuba divers that were sent down to search for Vijaya Lakshmi were stymied by the fierce flow of the water.

A piece of the concrete sewer pipe was broken.

Officials think she may have fallen into it.

How is search and rescue going?

Search and rescue operations were temporarily called of on Tuesday (27 August) due to heavy rain.

However, the efforts to find her resumed today.

As per CNA, rescuers are now flushing the manholes surrounding the area.

The Pantai Dalam treatment plant, which is around seven kilometres away – where the sewer ends – is also being searched.

Authorities are also using high-powered jets to remove debris blocking access to the sewers.

“We feel there is something behind the heavy debris,” Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman, the local police official overseeing the rescue operations, told SCMP.

Sulaiman said the rescuers were using a “technique of blasting and disintegrating the objects.”

“So far, we have yet to uncover any clues to the whereabouts of the victim,” he said.

Officials have also placed 100 sandbags around the sewer lines – to try to stop the influx of rainwater.

The newspaper quoted Arvend Applasamy, a special officer to the deputy prime minister, as saying that the government was extending all possible support to the family of the victim.

Applasamy said their visas had been extended by a month and the government had appointed a counsellor to help them navigate their grief.

“Of course the family is sad,” Applasamy said. “But it is my understanding that they have accepted fate and they told me that they do not expect anything and would only want to ‘see her face’.”

“I have also expressed to them that the government is committed to the search.”

Meanwhile, a second sinkhole has also opened up around 50 metres away from the first.

As per Straits Times, the new sinkhole opened up around 2.30 am today after a storm.

The newspaper reported that an official from Malaysia’s Mineral and Geoscience Department was seen scanning the street with a ground-penetrating radar.

The official stood at the location between the two sinkholes before stomping on the ground and jumping up and down.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) in a statement said it had blocked off the road.

‘Area is safe’

“We have taken quick action, together with Indah Water Konsortium (IWK, the waste management company serving Kuala Lumpur), to inspect the sewerage pipe at the location and its surrounding areas,” DBKL said.

Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof has insisted that the area is safe.

He said the government would do an integrity audit in the area after the victim is found.

“For now, it (Jalan Masjid India) is safe. We must conduct an integrity audit because there have been new developments (around the area). We need to find out the source (of the sinkholes). The public should be safe as long as they follow City Hall’s instructions,” he said.

Professor Jeffrey Chiang Choong Luin, president of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, told the newspaper there could be a link between the two sinkholes.

“There could be a service pipe that has been compromised running underground. If it has been compromised, this would affect the soil’s integrity and the water seepage would erode the soil,” said Chiang.

A staff member of the Palace Hotel in Jalan Masjid India told the newspaper this wasn’t the first time a sinkhole had claimed a life in the area.

“It’s not the first time this has happened. There was a sinkhole a few months ago, there was another one last month and then the sinkhole that took the tourist and now this one. I am just cautious when I walk around, and I avoid pavements that are sunken,” said Jamal.

“As for the hotel, I’m confident of its foundation, since the building has been around for four decades.”

Interestingly, a third sinkhole opened up on Tuesday in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Kampung Kerinchi, as per CNA

The incident occurred over a collapsed drain.

Thankfully, no casualties or injuries were reported.

CNA quoted Kuala Lumpur mayor Maimunah Mohd Sharif as saying that the city “remains safe unless proven otherwise by studies”.

She said a task force comprising the Department of Minerals and Geosciences, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, the Royal Malaysia Police and the Public Works Department has been established to examine safety of development in the capital.

With inputs from agencies