40s Indian Woman Walking with Group Falls and Goes Missing
Sinkhole Depth 8m... Likely Swept Away by Groundwater
A sudden sinkhole occurred on a sidewalk in the middle of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, causing an Indian tourist passing by to fall 8 meters down and go missing.
According to AP News, the British BBC, and local media The Star on the 24th (local time), a 48-year-old Indian female tourist walking on a sidewalk in the Dang Wangi area of central Kuala Lumpur suddenly fell as the ground collapsed beneath her the previous morning. CCTV footage from the surrounding area captured the moment when a sidewalk block about 2 meters wide suddenly sank, causing the woman, who was walking with her group, to fall underground. The sinkhole was approximately 8 meters deep.
On the 24th (local time), rescue authorities are searching a sinkhole that appeared on a sidewalk in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. [Photo by AP Yonhap News]
Local fire and rescue authorities dispatched personnel to the scene to search underground, but the missing person has not yet been found. Rusdi Mohamad Isa, Chief of the Kuala Lumpur Police Department, stated that strong underground water flow beneath the sinkhole likely swept the missing person away. He also added that last year, soil beneath the same location had been washed away and repaired. The police explained that there are sewage and gas pipes underground at the accident site, so if these are disturbed during excavation, further damage could occur, and thus they are carefully planning the search operation.
The missing tourist had come here two months ago with her husband and several friends to enjoy a vacation and was scheduled to return home on that day, but the accident occurred a day before her return. A sinkhole refers to a large hole formed when the ground suddenly collapses, and the main cause of sinkholes is the empty space created as underground water drains away.
Around 7 p.m. on the 20th, a large sinkhole approximately 5 meters in diameter and 3 meters deep occurred near a construction site close to Saebyeok Market in Gamjeon-dong, Sasang-gu, Busan. [Photo by Yonhap News]
Recently, sinkholes have also been occurring repeatedly on roads near the Busan Urban Railway Sasang~Hadan Line construction site in South Korea. Around 7 p.m. on the 20th, a large sinkhole approximately 5 meters in diameter and 3 meters deep occurred near a construction site close to the Saebyeok Market in Gamjeon-dong, Sasang-gu, Busan. Fortunately, no casualties were reported, and Sasang District Office and Busan Transportation Corporation took measures to divert vehicles and carried out road repairs. On the morning of the 21st at 10:16 a.m., a sinkhole measuring 50 cm in diameter and 1 meter in length appeared on a one-way four-lane road near Hakgamsa Intersection in Gamjeon-dong, Sasang-gu, about 200 meters from the previous site. Due to this, an SUV passing through the area had its front wheel caught in the hole, causing a passenger sitting in the back seat to suffer minor facial abrasions.
According to Sasang-gu, there have been six sinkhole incidents this year around the Sasang~Hadan Line Section 1 construction site. One incident each occurred in April, May, and July, and three incidents have occurred this month alone. The Sasang~Hadan Line is a project underway to open by the end of 2026, consisting of seven stations from Sasang Station on Line 2 to Hadan Station, with a total length of 6.9 km.
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