The search mission for the sinkhole victim has been halted, says the Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM).
The mission is deemed too risky to continue using diving methods to search for the sinkhole victim, who has been missing for 8 days.
JBPM director-general Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad said this decision came after nearly 30 minutes of diving by 2 scuba divers at 4 am today proved unsuccessful.
“Strong underground water currents, limited space for rescuers and the presence of debris and hard blockages in the search area hampered the search mission,” he explained this morning (August 30) after attending the JBPM monthly assembly, which was shared on the team’s Facebook page.
Hisham also said the team made several attempts from 5 PM yesterday (August 29) until 1 AM today to break through the blockage. Unfortunately, it was too difficult to break through the blockages, which Hisham described as “like concrete walls.”
He added that both scuba divers needed to be pulled out as water levels rose underground and it became too risky.
2 underwater cameras were also deployed, and the images captured included fragments of cloth that could not be identified. Hisham said they couldn’t determine if the cloth belonged to anyone because “anything could be down there.”
Is this the end of the search mission?
According to Hisham, the Seach & Rescue Team will have a meeting this evening at DBKL to determine the next course of action.
“Currently, the methods are too risky for us.”
Stay tuned as we keep you updated!
