‘Miracle’ boy found alive after falling down drainage pipe in Los Angeles: Fire official

A 13-year-old boy was found alive this morning after falling through a wooden plank on Sunday and being washed away into a network of drainage pipes in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Jesse Hernandez, who was scared, cold and hungry when he was found early this morning, is “alert and talking,” the fire department said.

Jesse was trapped in the “intricate, enclosed” pipe system overnight during the “relentless” search for him that lasted 13 hours, LAFD Capt. Erik Scott told ABC News.

Scott called it a “miracle” that Jesse survived.

LAFD

Capt. Erik Scott, LAFD

The accident happened at about 4:30 p.m. local time on Sunday when the boy fell about 25 feet into a sewer pipe, the fire department said.

Jesse’s family was picnicking nearby as part of its annual Easter tradition before the boy went missing, fire department official said. The fire department told ABC station KABC in Los Angeles that Jesse and his friends had climbed over a chain-link fence near Griffith Park and entered an abandoned maintenance shed. Jesse then fell after a wooden plank he was standing on gave way.

The pipes, which run parallel the Los Angeles River and cross under freeways, are 4 feet in diameter, the fire department said.

AP

The pipes are filled with 2 feet or more of liquid that moves at 15 mph, the fire department said.

Teams from the Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Police Department, California Highway Patrol and experts from the Bureaus of Sanitation, Engineering and Contract Administration were among the officials who worked to analyze the 6,400-feet pipe system and conduct the search.

Cameras used to inspect pipes for repair were employed as part of the rescue effort, the fire department said.

The fire department, working with the Bureau of Sanitation, pinpointed the search area to a one-mile radius, and intelligence then narrowed the search down to a 6,400-foot section of pipe, Scott of the LAFD told ABC News.

That’s where rescuers opened a maintenance hatch and found Jesse, Scott said.

Capt. Erik Scott, LAFD

Jesse saw a glimpse of light when the sewage hatch was opening, Scott said. He commended the teen for being smart enough to stay by the light.

As rescuers checked his vitals, crew members handed him a phone to call his mother, who was relieved to hear his voice, Scott said.

Scott said crews were extremely concerned that Jesse wouldn’t be found safe due to the fall and the hazardous material inside the pipes.

“We maintained hope, we maintained intensity and we did not give up,” Scott said. “But I’ll be honest, we did not think we would find a viable patient.”

After there was word that Jesse had been found, Scott said he has never seen so many men hold back their tears and embrace each other.

Jesse was taken to a hospital to be evaluated, the fire department said.

“We would like to thank the entire Hernandez family for their patience and optimism,” the department said. “From start to finish, this was an unprecedented team effort and the LAFD would like to recognize the excellent teamwork among all agencies involved.”