At least 15 people trapped after tunnel collapses in LA

The Los Angeles Fire Department rushed to Wilmington after a tunnel collapsed and trapped at least 15 people inside.

Authorities have not been able to contact the people trapped inside. The tunnel collapse appeared to damage communication lines. 

LAFD has sent a massive amount of resources, including all of their Urban Search and Rescue teams, to the 1700 block of South Figueroa Street. Firefighters said the collapse happened as many as six miles away from the sole access point of the tunnel. 

A handful of construction workers were being hoisted from a crane to the surface at roughly 8:55 p.m. 

The collapse happened at the $630.5 million Los Angeles Effluent Outfall Tunnel project commissioned by the Los Angeles County Sanitation District.

Flatiron Dragados, the prime contractor for the construction, wrote on its website that the tunnel is 7 miles long and about 18 feet wide. The company aimed to complete the wastewater management project by 2027.