At least 27 workers inside a collapsed tunnel in Los Angeles climbed over a mound of soil up to 15 feet tall and emerged at the only entrance five miles away without major injury, making an improbable escape on Wednesday night, officials said.
Four other workers went inside the industrial tunnel after the collapse to help in the rescue efforts. All 31 workers emerged safely after the collapse, said Michael Chee, the spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said that no one was missing after it had dispatched more than 100 rescue workers to the site in the city’s Wilmington neighborhood, about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
“Tonight, we were lucky,” interim Fire Department Chief Ronnie Villanueva said at a news conference.
The collapse left a pile of loose soil that was 12 to 15 feet tall inside a horizontal excavation site in the tunnel, which was part of a construction project, the Fire Department said in a statement.
The tunnel workers who were trapped by the debris were able to scramble over it and meet their co-workers who went inside to help transport them to the entry point on a tunnel vehicle, fire officials said.
The authorities did not immediately say what had caused the collapse. Interim Chief Villanueva said that the workers were being treated for minor injuries.
The tunnel was part of a $630 million wastewater management project commissioned by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. FlatironDragados, the tunnel’s main contractor, said on its website that the project was expected to be completed in 2027.
Construction workers were building a new tunnel to transport treated wastewater to the ocean, replacing two tunnels that had been in operation since the 1930s, Mr. Chee said.
Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles County Board supervisor whose district includes Wilmington, said that the work on the tunnel would continue.
Speaking to reporters outside the facility, Mayor Karen Bass said she had rushed to the site fearing tragedy. She and her team had spoken with rescue workers, families, and paramedics, she said. “We’re all blessed tonight in Los Angeles.”
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
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