31 Workers Rescued from Terrifying L.A. Tunnel Collapse (Video)

It was supposed to be just another day beneath Los Angeles. Instead, it turned into a near-death experience 400 feet underground.

On Wednesday evening, 31 workers found themselves trapped in darkness when a section of a massive L.A. County sanitation tunnel partially collapsed deep below Wilmington. What followed was a desperate scramble through rubble, fear, and uncertainty — with only one way out.

LAFD has just reported that all workers who were trapped in the tunnel in Wilmington are now out and accounted for.

I just spoke with many of the workers who were trapped. Thank you to all of our brave first responders who acted immediately. You are L.A.'s true heroes. pic.twitter.com/6hdAwbH1MI

— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) July 10, 2025

“They Were Five Miles In — With Debris Behind Them”

At around 6:30 p.m., a loud rumble echoed through the six-mile Clearwater Project tunnel — part of a $630 million infrastructure push to send treated wastewater to the Pacific. The men were five miles into the shaft when the collapse hit. The debris didn’t completely block the tunnel, but it left only a narrow path through the damaged zone.

“Any time you have a collapse behind you, there’s only one way out,” said Robert Ferrante, chief engineer for the L.A. County Sanitation Districts. “It was very scary. We are very fortunate no one was hurt.”

Four workers — reportedly supervisors — entered after the collapse to help the 27 still inside, officials said. All 31 managed to escape without injury.

A Full-Scale Rescue

With only one access shaft on North Figueroa Street, over 100 L.A. Fire Department personnel raced to the scene. Specialized urban search and rescue teams, trained for tight, confined spaces, prepared for the worst. But remarkably, the workers had already begun making their way out.

“They had to climb back through the collapse zone,” said interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva. “It was harrowing.”

Mayor Bass: ‘A Very Scary Evening’

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass rushed to the scene to speak with the workers.

“We are all blessed today in Los Angeles — no one injured, everyone safe,” she said. “This was a very scary evening that could’ve ended in tragedy.”

Some family members of the workers waited in anguish outside the site, unsure if their loved ones would make it out alive. One worker reportedly emerged covered in dust, clutching a photo of his daughter. “All I wanted was to get home to her,” he said.

Project Paused Indefinitely

The Clearwater tunnel has been under construction since 2021. It’s meant to carry clean, treated wastewater from the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant to the ocean near Royal Palms Beach. It’s one of the largest wastewater infrastructure projects in California history — and Wednesday’s incident is the first major scare since it broke ground.

“This changes everything,” Ferrante admitted. “We don’t know how long it will take to make the tunnel safe again. That process starts now.”

Emotional Fallout

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, visibly shaken at the site, said the workers were “alive and happy” but clearly traumatized.

“This could have been catastrophic,” Hahn said. “We’re going to get answers. We owe that to these men.”

Construction is now halted. Investigators will examine the collapsed section to determine the cause and what safeguards failed — or didn’t exist at all.

For now, the only certainty is that 31 men walked out of a potential graveyard — and the city narrowly avoided what could have been its worst construction disaster in years.