KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Search-and-rescue (SAR) efforts are ongoing to locate 48-year-old Indian tourist Vijayaletchumy who fell into a sinkhole on Jalan Masjid India last week, said Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) deputy director (operations) Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad.

He said rescue personnel are working to remove debris and blockages over a 44-metre stretch from the sinkhole to Wisma Jakel to reach an object lodged along the span.

"The chamber is close to Wisma Yakin, and we’re using vises, rope, water pressure, and manual labour to slowly remove debris from this sewage chamber.

"It’s full of debris, rubbish, and everything you can imagine, and we need to be careful and do it slowly so it doesn’t burst and affect the rescue personnel,” he told reporters at the scene.

Nor Hisham said that they have not detected unusual odours due to the presence of existing smells and could not see into the span using cameras due to the murky water.

"Solidified fat from cooking oil, hair, and everything else is down there, all mixed up, so we can’t tell for sure what’s in there. If the water wasn’t flowing as much, we could identify smells better,” he said.

He added that the water level in the sewage chamber has reduced from 1.5 metres to 0.8 metres overnight.

Two cameras were used to inspect the chamber, revealing blockages in the pipe that caused a 15-metre backlog.

"If we’re successful in breaking it, we’ll be able to take better images and identify what’s in there,” he added.

Nor Hisham also disclosed that 110 rescue personnel are working around the clock in teams to find Vijayaletchumy.

At the same location, Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Suliezmy Affendy Sulaiman said the decision to keep up the SAR efforts was made following a meeting with Federal Territories Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

He added that the roads currently closed in the area will remain shut to the public for safety reasons.

The sinkhole, which occurred last Friday resulted in the Indian national tourist Vijayaletchumy, 48, from Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh falling into an eight-metre-deep hole.

Today marks the seventh day of the SAR operation.

* An earlier version of this article contained an error which has since been rectified.