LOS ANGELES — Authorities here were searching early Monday for a 13-year-old boy who apparently fell into a drainage pipe at a park while spending Easter with his family. CBS Los Angeles reports investigators believe Jesse Hernandez was playing in the area with other children when he may have fallen fell through the roof of a 20-foot concrete building into a drainage sewage system below — and he may be trapped.
More than 100 members of the Los Angeles Fire Department and personnel from several agencies were assisting in the search.
Officials studied maps of the closed sewage pipe system, which stretches hundreds of feet, and sent a camera attached to a flotation device 300 feet down a pipe. The Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement the device is similar to a bogey board.
CBS L.A. says water runs at speeds up to 15 miles per hour in the pipe and water levels vary.
LAFD spokesperson Erik Scott told the station the “specialized closed-circuit TV cameras that have lights on them – we place them on pontoons to float through this pipe system. They have the capability to crawl along the bottom.”
Firefighters were “also using gas meters and all available equipment to safely conduct this on-going search,” the statement said.
“Per the family request, LAFD released a picture of Jesse via our social media channels in the hopes that if he is not in the pipe system, someone will see him and notify LAPD.”
Fire Department spokesman David Ortiz said rescuers couldn’t enter the drainage area themselves because of the hazardous environment.
The fire department added, “Picnicking in the Griffith Park area is an Easter tradition for the Hernandez family and consequently, over 20 family members are present. The Mayor’s Crisis Response Team is on scene helping to console and support family members.”
Crews were expected to search through the night.
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