Construction workers reach safety after Los Angeles industrial tunnel partially collapses: ‘Everyone is safe’

Leaders are breathing a sigh of relief after more than construction workers in an industrial tunnel in Los Angeles reached safety after it partially collapsed The cave-in occurred between the tunnel boring machine miles from the entrance and the construction workers who were working miles in The workers who were about feet underground scrambled over loose soil more than feet high to reach the tunnel boring machine and then were transported back to the opening Aerial footage exhibited workers being brought out of the tunnel in a yellow cage hoisted up by a crane DIVIDING LINE PATROL AGENTS SHUT DOWN MASSIVE DRUG SMUGGLING TUNNEL BETWEEN TIJUANA AND SAN DIEGONone of those rescued had major injuries agents disclosed Everyone is safe Thank you to L A s first responders and to the people throughout our city who work every day to make L A better Los Angles Mayor Karen Bass wrote on X Speaking at a news conference Bass revealed she had met with certain of the workers All of the men that were in that tunnel rescued up safe We had an opportunity to speak with them We had an opportunity to make sure they were able to reach their family members Bass explained Their family members knew they were safe There were plenty of anxious family members who were here waiting to make sure that their relatives were okay We spoke with the paramedics while the paramedics examined the men as they came up And I just have to tell you that we re all privileged in current times in Los Angeles Bass praised first responders as Los Angeles' true heroes LA City Councilmember Tim McOsker praised the workers for keeping cool heads This is a highly technical intricate project And they knew exactly what to do They knew how to secure themselves he noted Thank goodness for the good people that were down in the tunnel The tunnel being constructed almost entirely underneath constituents right-of-way is feet wide and will be miles long to carry treated wastewater from across Los Angeles County to the Pacific Ocean The million project is being overseen by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts The cause of the collapse is under analysis Government mentioned work will not resume until the project contractor assesses what happened and deems the site safe The Associated Press contributed to this statement