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15h ago

All 31 Workers Rescued After Partial Collapse of Los Angeles Wastewater Tunnel

Los Angeles County Sanitation District engineers have halted tunneling to investigate squeezing ground conditions that led to the failure

Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) firefighters are seen at the site of an industrial tunnel collapse in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles on July 9, 2025. 31 workers were safely removed from the tunnel without visible injuries, the LAFD said on July 9.
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Overview

  • Thirty-one construction workers emerged uninjured after a section of the Los Angeles Effluent Outfall Tunnel collapsed 450 feet below ground
  • More than 100 responders, including Urban Search and Rescue teams, used cranes and a bird-cage elevator system to extract the trapped crew
  • Workers climbed over a 12- to 15-foot mound of loose soil and rode a tunnel vehicle five miles to reach the sole access shaft
  • Officials attribute the collapse to squeezing ground pressure in a previously constructed segment and have paused work pending a structural inquiry
  • The incident occurred within the seven-mile, 18-foot-wide Clearwater Project tunnel being built by Flatiron Dragados under a $630.5 million contract