A shocking video shows the moment a woman fell into a sinkhole as the street collapsed around her.
The incident has left Kuala Lumpur in shock, and a woman has been missing for five days after falling into a 26-foot sinkhole that suddenly opened up beneath her feet.
The victim, identified as 48-year-old Vijaya Lakshmi, was walking along a street in Malaysia's capital when the pavement collapsed, swallowing her whole, per the Telegraph.
Chilling CCTV footage captured the horrifying moment, showing Lakshmi walking calmly along the sidewalk before disappearing into the sinkhole.
Others nearby narrowly avoided the same fate, as they were sitting just meters away from the collapse.
Malaysian rescue teams launched an immediate search operation, but so far, only Lakshmi's shoes have been recovered.
"Sewage water is also very harsh, and the current has a minimum flow speed of one meter per second," said Datuk G Parameswaran, president of the Malaysian Water and Wastewater Quality Safety Association, in an interview with the Straits Times.
Parameswaran added: "Theoretically, she could have traveled up to 86.4 kilometers within 24 hours."
Lakshmi and her family, who had been in Malaysia for about two months, were scheduled to fly home on Sunday.
Her disappearance has prompted authorities to provide counseling support for her relatives, including her husband and son.
The incident occurred in a busy shopping area known for its goldsmiths and jewelers, just a 10-minute drive from the iconic Petronas Towers.
The community remains on edge as search efforts continue, with many fearing the worst.
In another story regarding a sinkhole, 37-year-old Jeff Bush lost his life when one opened up beneath his Florida home.
Bush was sleeping in his bedroom when the ground beneath him suddenly gave way.
Since the initial incident, the site has been secured with a chain-link fence to protect nearby residents.
In 2015, officials attempted to fill the sinkhole with a mixture of gravel and water after it reopened, but despite these efforts, the sinkhole has continued to expand. It now measures 19 feet (6 meters) wide.
Recalling the night of February 28, 2013, Jeremy Bush, who was 36 at the time, described his desperate attempt to save his brother.
"I ran in there and heard somebody screaming, my brother screaming, and I ran in there," he told My Fox Tampa Bay.
"All I see is this big hole. All I see is the top of his bed. I didn't see anything else, so I jumped in the hole and tried getting him out."
Despite Jeremy's heroic efforts, his brother's body was never recovered.
