Comment on Teenager rescued after more than 12 hours in Los Angeles sewage

LOS ANGELES — A 13-year-old boy was miraculously rescued Monday after falling into a river of sewage in Los Angeles, getting swept away and spending more than 12 hours in the toxic environment of the city’s mazelike underground pipeline system. Jesse Hernandez had been playing with other children on wooden planks over an access portal to the sewer system during a family outing Sunday at a Los Angeles park. When a plank broke, Jesse fell about 25 feet and landed in fast-moving sewage, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The other children immediately notified adults, who called 911, initiating a frantic and exhaustive 12-hour search of labyrinthine underground pipes using cameras propped on flotation devices. Rescuers finally found Jesse after seeing images of handprints on a sewage pipe.