All 31 Workers Safely Rescued After Major Tunnel Collapse in Wilmington
All 31 Workers Safely Rescued After Major Tunnel Collapse in Wilmington
Breaking news from Wilmington, Los Angeles, confirms that all 31 workers involved in a partial tunnel collapse late Wednesday evening have been safely rescued with no injuries reported. The incident occurred in an under-construction L.A. County sanitation tunnel, prompting a massive emergency response.
First responders, including over 100 L.A. Fire Department personnel and specialized confined-space rescue teams, converged on the site near the 1700 block of North Figueroa Street. The workers were deep within the six-mile-long tunnel, approximately 400 feet underground and over five miles from the access point, when the collapse happened.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who met with the rescued workers, expressed immense relief, stating, “We are all blessed today in Los Angeles, no one injured, everyone safe. I am feeling very good that this is a great outcome to what started as a very scary evening.”
According to interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva and L.A. County Sanitation Districts chief engineer Robert Ferrante, 27 workers were initially inside the 18-foot-diameter tunnel, with four more entering to assist. Despite the partial collapse, debris did not completely block the path, allowing the workers to climb back through the damaged section to safety.
The tunnel is part of the Clearwater Project, designed to transport treated wastewater. Work on the project, which began in 2019, has been paused indefinitely as contractors assess the damage, investigate the cause, and determine necessary repairs. This marks the first major incident since the tunnel construction commenced in 2021.
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