How 31 Workers Escaped Death After LA Tunnel Collapse

When a section of a massive tunnel deep beneath Los Angeles collapsed on Wednesday night, 31 workers found themselves in a desperate race for survival — hundreds of feet below the surface, surrounded by darkness, debris, and rising water.

The men, part of a crew working on a nearly $700 million wastewater tunnel project in Wilmington, had been supervising operations some 400 feet underground when disaster struck. 

The tunnel boring machine had been carving a 7-mile passage under the industrial neighbourhood, carrying treated wastewater to the Pacific Ocean. For two years, the work had gone smoothly until now.

On that night, everything changed.

“They thought they were going to die”

Arally Orozco, whose three brothers were in the tunnel during the collapse, said they are still shaken and unable to speak to the media.

“One of them came out crying,” she said. “He told me he thought he was going to die underground.”

She described how they had reached their worksite—over an hour’s journey by a transport vehicle—when they heard a strange noise. “They heard a psss sound, like air was going out, like pressure was escaping, and they didn’t know what it was,” she recalled.

Shortly after, debris began to fall. Two workers heading back toward the entrance noticed the collapse beginning. One rushed forward to get help, the other ran back to warn the rest.

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With the only transport vehicle stopped by rubble just a mile into the return journey, the group had no choice but to continue on foot, in complete darkness except for their headlamps.

“They had to climb over more than 12 feet of loose dirt,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Ronnie Villanueva. “It was the most dangerous section — and they did it without help.”

“They felt helpless”

Orozco said her brothers were terrified as they made their way across unstable ground, water rushing in behind them. “My brother said at one point the water reached up to his waist and he struggled to breathe because it seemed like the tunnel was losing oxygen,” she said. “They felt helpless.”

The workers eventually squeezed through a narrow opening in the debris, unsure if they would even fit. Emergency teams reached them further along the tunnel and helped them onto vehicles. From there, they were lifted out one by one using a yellow cage hoisted by a crane.

“They’re shaken up,” said Michael Chee, spokesperson for the LA County Sanitation Districts. “They’ll need time to recover.”

Praise for calm under pressure

City Councilmember Tim McOsker commended the workers’ actions. “This is a highly technical, difficult project. And they knew exactly what to do. They knew how to secure themselves,” he said. “Thank goodness for the good people who were down in the tunnel.”

Though none of the workers suffered major injuries, officials say it was a close call.

“The men who were in front of the collapse had approximately 6 to 8 feet of space above the debris where they were able to clamber over,” said Chee.

Investigation underway

The cause of the collapse remains unknown. All construction has been halted. Chee confirmed a full investigation will be carried out before any further work resumes.

“What our people and contractors are going to do is a full assessment,” he said. “Everything from engineering to structural integrity to safety.”

Structural engineer Maria Mohammed, who is not involved in the project, said it could take months before investigators can safely enter the collapsed section. Working near the coast at such depths adds significant complexity.

“You would design not just for the pressure from the soil and the weight of the soil — you have to design for the pressure from the water,” she explained.

The key, she said, will be to find out what failed first. “Usually, a collapse is a chain reaction. One thing fails and it takes others with it.”

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