Kuala Lumpur sinkhole: A timeline of rescue efforts at the one-week mark

SINGAPORE: A 48-year-old tourist from India remains missing a week after she fell into a sinkhole on Jalan Masjid India in Kuala Lumpur.
Search and rescue efforts have been unsuccessful so far despite 110 personnel working round the clock in teams, according to Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) deputy director (operations) Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad, as reported by news outlet Malay Mail.
CNA takes stock of what has happened.
Aug 23: At about 8.20am, the victim, identified as Ms Vijayaletchumy, falls into an 8m-deep sinkhole on Jalan Masjid India in the Malaysian capital.
She was reportedly on a two-month holiday with her family and was due to return home soon.
Firefighters and fire engines are deployed. The Operations, Tactical and Rescue Special Team as well as the Fire Department’s tracking dogs are soon called in, according to news agency Bernama.
Excavators are used to dig up the area to expand the search.
Aug 24: The cause of the sinkhole is not yet known, says Federal Territories Minister Zaliha Mustafa.
Aug 25: Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expresses sympathy and condolences to the family.
Claims from 2015 resurface on social media that there was potential for a “giant sinkhole” to emerge in the capital at any time.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Maimunah Mohd Sharif says the city “remains safe unless proven otherwise by studies”.
A task force that includes the Department of Minerals and Geosciences, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, the Royal Malaysia Police and the Public Works Department has been set up to study the safety of development in the capital, she says.
Aug 26: Rescuers use camera crawlers in the sewerage system, conduct flushing, and deploy high-pressure water jets to cut through debris along two manholes.
A Singapore wastewater company offers to help, but Dang Wangi police chief, Assistant Commissioner Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman, says Malaysia will tap local expertise.
At about 10pm, Kuala Lumpur City Hall cordons off an area in the suburb of Kampung Kerinchi several kilometres away from Jalan Masjid India, after a collapsed drain creates a large hole on Jalan Pantai Permai.
Aug 27: Rescuers deploy ground penetrating radar as search efforts continue, including at Pantai Dalam treatment plant 7km away, where the sewer ends.
The victim’s son, Mr M Suria, 25, tells Bernama he last spoke with his mother on the phone at 1.30am on the day of the incident. He was in Thailand and had just got a tattoo of her name on his left arm. He rushed to Kuala Lumpur when informed of the incident by his brother-in-law.
Shops in the Masjid India area say business has declined significantly as locals and tourists stay away.
Residents in sinkhole-prone areas of Kuala Lumpur such as Brickfields call on authorities to publish the city’s underground mapping system to stay informed about the infrastructure beneath their neighbourhoods.
Aug 28: Another sinkhole opens up on Jalan Masjid India, 50m from the sinkhole that claimed Ms Vijayaletchumy, in the early hours of the day. No casualties are reported but the authorities close the entire 400m stretch of the road, with footpaths remaining open. 
Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof says an “integrity audit” of the sewerage system along Jalan Masjid India will be done after search efforts conclude.
Federal Territories Minister Zaliha confirms that approval of new construction in Kuala Lumpur has been temporarily halted. 
Kuala Lumpur City Hall says it will cancel its Merdeka Eve celebrations on Aug 30 out of respect for the victim. The celebration was to be held at Merdeka Square, a few hundred metres from the sinkhole site.
Aug 29: Malaysia’s police chief Razarudin Husain says there is currently no need to declare the Masjid India area unsafe or a disaster zone.
Divers continue to search overnight for the victim in sewerage channels but face strong currents and large amounts of rocks and debris.
Aug 30: The search operation enters its eighth day. It focuses on clearing a 15m blockage detected in the sewer lines below Wisma Yakin, roughly 44m from the sinkhole, Bernama reports.
Meanwhile, national sewerage company Indah Water Konsortium says its inspections show the Jalan Pantai Permai hole was not caused by its public sewage pipes.