Sinkhole size of 40 Olympic pools swallows lorries, buildings in Selangor

 

A total of 67 employees from two companies in Bestari Jaya, Selangor were evacuated to a relief centre at SK Rantau Panjang, after a land subsidence occurred in an open area near their premises yesterday evening.

Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations Hafisham Mohd Noor said in the incident at about 6.50pm, there was a 10m-deep fissure over 50,000sqm of land near Jalan PKPS in Kampung Bestari Jaya near Shah Alam.

For context, an Olympic swimming pool size is 1,250sqm. The sinkhole is roughly the size of 40 such pools. 

Pictures and videos circulating online show lorries and buildings swallowed up by the sinkhole.  

"The department received an emergency call at about 6.51pm and seven firefighters were rushed to the scene.

"Based on preliminary information, the department was told that there was a victim buried in the sediment, however after doing a headcount of workers at two nearby premises, no victims were found missing or buried," he said in a statement.

Hafisham added that as the land was still unstable, the department and police advised for operations at the two premises to be temporarily stopped, and the workers living in the hostel nearby be transferred to SK Rantau Panjang.

"The department carried out sanitisation work at the school before the poultry farm workers were transferred," he said.

- Bernama