Photo: Firefighters Called to Remove 5 Migrants Stuck in Sewage Tunnel at U.S.-Mexico Border
Wednesday, firefighters had to remove a group of people from a sewage tunnel near the U.S.-Mexico border.
San Diego and Chula Vista firefighters, with help from U.S. Border Patrol agents, spent 45 minutes digging out five people who had become trapped in a sewage tunnel then they crawled to a point where a fence, put in the tunnel itself, made it impossible to get through the U.S. side of the border.
It is believed the group of migrants entered the sewage tunnel through a manhole on the Mexican side of the border, and they were recovered on the 9800 block of Via De La Amistad in Otay Mesa, CA. One of the men became stuck and was calling for help.
U.S. Border Patrol dogs were called in to assist in finding which manhole the group was near. Once they were removed one by one, the migrants were hosed down due to their exposure to sewage. Border Patrol officials said the group - four men and one women – were in good health and without injuries.
This tunnel is one of many found recently, as border officials have discovered a number of tunnels in the Tijuana-San Diego region, which have been used to for both human and drug trafficking.
One of the rescued men said he paid a smuggler $5,000 to get him in to the U.S.
Border Patrol is checking the migrants’ records to see if any of them are wanted for serious crimes in the U.S., and if not, they will be sent back across the border.
It is said the point of exit will be monitored until it can be sealed with concrete.
