Thirty-one construction workers were rescued on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, California, after a major tunnel collapse trapped them 300 feet below ground.
In an update regarding Wednesday’s rescue operation, the Los Angeles Fire Department said, “31 persons, all believed to be tunnel workers, have been safely removed from the tunnel alive without visible injury. None are missing. The collapse of the 18′ diameter tunnel, being constructed for municipal wastewater management, occurred at an underground (undetermined depth) horizontal excavation site about 5 to 6 miles south of the sole entry/rescue access portal.”
The Los Angeles Fire Department added that preliminary reports indicated that the workers who were trapped in the tunnel were able to “scramble with some effort over a 12-15′ tall (undetermined length) pile of loose soil,” where they met multiple coworkers on the opposite side of the tunnel collapse and were “shuttled several at a time by tunnel vehicle to the entry/access point more than five miles distant.”
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The New York Post reported that officials did not immediately confirm the cause of Wednesday’s collapse and that officials were not sure how large the tunnel collapse was. The outlet noted that the trapped workers were hoisted back to the surface with cranes and that more than 100 first responders were deployed to the scene to aid the rescue effort and provide medical evaluations for the construction workers.
A video of the rescue operation was shared on X, formerly Twitter.
According to an update on the Los Angeles County Sanitation District’s Clearwater Project, the tunnel that collapsed on Wednesday is currently under construction as part of the city’s waste management system under the $630.5 million Los Angeles Effluent Outfall Tunnel. The update noted that the tunnel shaft was initially opened in 2020, while mining on the project started in January of 2022.
Sharing a video following Wednesday night’s rescue operation, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tweeted, “LAFD has just reported that all workers who were trapped in the tunnel in Wilmington are now out and accounted for. I just spoke with many of the workers who were trapped. Thank you to all of our brave first responders who acted immediately. You are L.A.’s true heroes.”
