31 Trapped Workers Rescued From Collapsed Tunnel In LA

Thank goodness everyone is alright!

Rescue workers were able to save 31 workers who were trapped in a Los Angeles tunnel after it collapsed on Wednesday night.

The trapped workers were in a tunnel nearly 400 feet beneath the ground, and they were trapped after the tunnel they were working on collapsed.

Rescue crews immediately arrived on the scene and were able to rescue all the workers in the tunnel.

Here was the scene:

BREAKING: A tunnel collapsed in Los Angeles, California

Up to 15 workers trapped

Suburb of Wilmington,
Location near Figueroa and Lomita. pic.twitter.com/e4SpbGF86k

— Culture War Report (@CultureWar2020) July 10, 2025

Over two dozen workers were able to safely escape following a tunnel collapse in the Wilmington area of Los Angeles Wednesday night. It was a huge LAFD response because it had the potential of being a major multi-day tunnel rescue incident. https://t.co/y90BuBX2TV pic.twitter.com/wvUmKK3shr

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) July 10, 2025

KTLA had more details on the tunnel collapse and offered how many rescue workers it took in the rescue efforts:

Crews successfully rescued 31 people who were trapped after a tunnel collapsed in L.A.’s Wilmington neighborhood Wednesday night.

The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the industrial tunnel on the 1700 block of South Figueroa Street shortly before 8 p.m.

The tunnel was filled with workers at the time, who were located 300-400 feet beneath the surface and around six miles away from the tunnel’s only access point.

More than 100 LAFD responders arrived at the scene, including Urban Search and Rescue team members who were specially trained and equipped to handle confined space tunnel rescues.

Some workers who were separated inside the tunnel had to climb over a 12-to 15-foot pile of loose soil to escape and join their colleagues on the other side.

Sky5 footage captured the rescue efforts as they were hoisted to the surface from the tunnel, which had an 18-foot diameter. The workers stepped inside a metal compartment that was lifted by a crane to the surface.

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Wilmington Tunnel Rescue – According to the @LAFD, several tunnel workers have been reportedly isolated by a “collapse” in an industrial tunnel in Wilmington. More than 100 LAFD responders are assigned, including LAFD Urban Search and Rescue team members specially trained,… pic.twitter.com/V6smUD6Sif

— LA City Local 112 (@UFLAC) July 10, 2025

CBS provided more information on the location of the incident:

The collapse happened at the $630.5 million Los Angeles Effluent Outfall Tunnel, which is part of the Los Angeles County Sanitation District’s Clearwater Project.

Flatiron Dragados, the prime contractor for the construction, wrote on its website that the tunnel is 7 miles long, about 18 feet wide and 450 feet below ground level. The company wrote that the new project will enable crews to repair aging wastewater management tunnels constructed in 1937 and 1958.

Crews were expected to complete the tunneling aspect of the project by April 2025, according to documents from the L.A. County Sanitation Department from July 2024. County staff aimed to complete the project by 2027 and activate the new tunnel by January 2028.