Sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur 2024

On 23 Aug 2024 an 8 m deep sinkhole suddenly opened in Jalan Masjid India, in Kuala Lumpur. A visitor from India fell in. A major search and rescue operation began but still hadn't found her 6 days later. The Fire and Rescue Department's scuba unit were involved.

Photo from The Star 26 Aug - 

27 Aug sniffer dogs were used to try and find the victim. "Two English Springer Spaniel dogs are being brought in to assist in locating the victim due to their excellent detection capabilities in the water.". And four people from Indian NGOs conducted religious rites to aid the search in finding the victim. Yellow chrysanthemums will be released into the river as a form of offering to the victim (The Sun 28 Aug). 

Meanwhile another sinkhole opened early on 28 Aug, about 50 m from the first one.

On 30 Aug, the 8th day, the efforts were to clear a backlog or 15-metre blockage. Later the search at the sinkhole was halted but will continue at the Pantai Dalam IWK sewage plant.

The search for the victim was called off on the 9th day, Sat 31 Aug 2024, The Star report. 

Sinkholes in Kuala Lumpur

At the end of Nov 2019 there were 3 sinkholes within 3 days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The first one was in Jalan Maharajalala and was 3 m wide and a car fell in. Photo from the NST

Sinkholes are not uncommon in limestone and much of KL is built on limestone, but apparently these 3 sinkholes occured in the Kenny Hill formation, which occurs over a large part of the city.
“This is quartzite and phyllite — very strong, hard rocks that have weathered over hundreds of million years."

The holes are thought to have been due to fast flowing water.

See more on NST on 30 Nov.

Sinkhole in centre of KL

Much of KL is built on limestone and there are many cavities underground. One estimate is that a third of Kuala Lumpur is built on limestone bedrock. Sinkholes tend to occur with such a geological formation.

One sinkhole occurred on the morning of 2 July 2014, at the junction of Jalan Pudu - Jalan Imbi - Jalan Hang Tuah. This is the junction of the old Pudu prison, Police HQ and Times Square. According to the Malay Mail the sinkhole was said to be 20 m deep.

The cause was said to be a burst water pipe. It happened mid morning so it was lucky there were no casualties. The collapse covers a 19 m stretch and is just 20 m from the elevated monorail.

Photos taken from Malay Mail

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The hole was filled with sand, The Star 4 July ; Malay Mail 4 July 'Sinkholes repair at Jalan Imbi almost completed'.
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There was a smaller sinkhole earlier in the year at Bukit Bintang on 26 April 2014, on  Jalan Bukit Bintang between Chulan Square and the Jalan Tun Razak intersection. Yahoo report.