FMT:

Call off sewer search for woman in sinkhole incident, says expert

Predeep Nambiar

-25 Aug 2024, 02:21 PM

Wastewater engineer G Parameswaran says the body will likely have travelled up to 86.4km in 24 hours.

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Rescuers have spent three days opening manholes along the suspected path, but have found no trace of the woman. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: 

The authorities have been urged to call off the search for a woman who fell into an 8m-deep sinkhole in Jalan Masjid India here, as the operation enters its third day with no sign of the victim.

G Parameswaran, a wastewater engineer, said the woman must be presumed dead given the high speed at which the sewer lines flow.

He explained that the large, 1.5m-wide sewer lines in central Kuala Lumpur likely carried the body through multiple sections over the past three days.

These sewer lines have a minimum flow speed of 1m per second. Theoretically, the body could have travelled up to 86.4km within 24 hours,

 he told FMT.

There is little point in continuing the search at this stage. We must now assume the worst, and the focus should shift to the Pantai 2 sewage treatment plant, where the body could eventually end up,

 he said.

Parameswaran, who also serves as president of the Malaysian Water and Wastewater Quality Safety Association, warned that the body might have decomposed rapidly in the harsh sewer environment.

Given the strong currents and numerous junctions in the sewer system, there is also the possibility the body could have been dismembered, with body parts flowing in different directions,

 he said.

Rescuers have spent three days opening manholes along the suspected path, but have found no trace of the woman.

The complex sewer network, coupled with hazardous conditions, has made the search particularly challenging.

Indah Water Konsortium chief executive officer Narendran Maniam reportedly said it was possible that the victim had been washed away and could be stuck at one of the inter-pump stations.

To date, rescuers have found only a pair of slippers belonging to the victim.

Vijayaletchumy, 48, of Andhra Pradesh, India, was walking with her family on Jalan Masjid India when she fell into a sinkhole that suddenly opened beneath her at 8.20am on Friday.

Separately, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has given his guarantee that the search for Vijayaletchumy will continue.

Speaking at the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Mosque today, he expressed his sympathies and said he had asked Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to meet the victim’s family.