Sinkhole incident: Frankie, Denti return to help search for victim

KUALA LUMPUR - Two dogs from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department's (JBPM) K9 Unit, Frankie and Denti, have returned to assist in the search and rescue (SAR) operation for a victim of the sinkhole incident at Jalan Masjid India here.

According to JBPM sources, the English Springer Spaniel dogs were brought to the sinkhole at 5pm to help the SAR team locate an Indian national, known only as Vijayaletchumi, who is still missing.

Bernama's observations found that Frankie and Denti attracted wide attention from the public and media present at the scene.

Both dogs entered the sinkhole with their handlers and conducted searches for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Frankie and Denti captured the hearts of Malaysians during their involvement in the SAR operation after the Batang Kali landslide at Father's Organic Farm, Batang Kali, Selangor, in December last year.

A few months later, both dogs, who have served for seven years, were flown to Turkiye for 14 days to assist in the special SAR operations following the devastating earthquake that claimed approximately 50,000 lives in February this year.

On Friday, the SAR team had previously utilised the K9 unit but did not uncover any new leads.

Earlier, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said that multiple efforts had been made by the SAR team, including using a bottle to determine the time it would take for an object to reach the end point at the Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Pantai Dalam plant.

Today marks the fifth day of the SAR operation to locate the 48-year-old victim, who went missing after falling into the eight-metre-deep sinkhole at 8:22 am on Friday.

The victim, from Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, was on holiday with her family in Malaysia and was walking towards a nearby temple for breakfast when the incident occurred. - BERNAMA