Jesse Hernandez, 13, Found Alive After Fall Down Sewage Pipe During Easter Picnic
A frantic search was underway in Los Angeles on Monday for a teen boy who was believed to have fallen into a sewage pipe before officials announced he'd been found alive.
Over 100 firefighters were working to locate Jesse Hernandez, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Erik Scott said Sunday night.
On Monday morning, the 13-year-old was miraculously found conscious and talking, LAFD said in a statement.
"A tremendous team effort over the past 12 hours resulted in the best outcome, Jesse Hernandez was found alive this morning," the statement read. "We would like to thank the entire Hernandez family for their patience and optimism. From start to finish, this was an unprecedented team effort and the LAFD would like to recognize the excellent teamwork among all agencies involved"
As the search stretched into Monday morning, the outlook was not always bright.
Investigators believe Hernandez may have been playing with other children when he fell through the roof of a 20-foot concrete building into a drainage sewage system below.
According to CBS Los Angeles, officials estimate water runs at speeds up to 15 miles per hour in the pipe and that water levels vary.
Rescuers worked through the night, searching for Jesse with the help of underwater cameras.
"These specialized closed-circuit TV cameras that have lights on them – we place them on pontoons to float through this pipe system,” LAFD PIO Erik Scott told reporters. "They have the capability to crawl along the bottom."
Making the search difficult, officials said, was a "maze of pipes" that prevented them from easily identifying exactly where Jesse could be stuck.
Jesse had reportedly been celebrating Easter with a family picnic in the park before the incident.
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