20 migrants rescued from flooded pipes
SAN DIEGO: Amid heavy rain, border patrol agents and firefighters rescued 20 people on Thursday night who attempted to cross from Mexico into the San Diego region through a flooded network of drainage pipes.
Authorities also found one person dead along the mouth of the Tijuana River in Imperial Beach in San Diego.
“The lifesaving efforts of these agents who bravely risk their own lives to save others makes me proud,” Douglas Harrison, chief patrol agent for the border patrol’s San Diego sector, said. “Inclement weather conditions and perilous drainage pipe water flows significantly increase the odds of a grim outcome.”
A border agent on patrol caught three people attempting to illegally cross into the US through a culvert about 3km west of the San Ysidro port of entry, officials said.
The agent learned that there were others lost in a maze of drainage pipes fast filling up because of rain. San Diego firefighters and lifeguards were called out to help with the rescue.
Hearing pleas for help deep in the pipes, agents and the emergency rescue team located a woman and pulled her to safety. She told authorities that there were more people trapped.
Eventually, authorities opened a manhole to find 13 more border crossers, seven of whom were transported to a hospital, officials said. At least one person sustained life-threatening injuries.
Early the next morning, agents heard another woman calling for help in the same area, officials said. She was apprehended and transported to a hospital. Shortly after, two other people were found near the end of the culvert.
Of the 20 people rescued by authorities, 19 were from Mexico and one was from Guatemala.