7 People Trapped In Cross-Border Tunnel

KNSD-TV
8:24 a.m. PDT October 10, 2006

SAN DIEGO - Rescue crews have freed two people from a tunnel near the U.S.-Mexico border, but five remain trapped underground, officials said. The San Diego Fire Department received a call from Border Patrol officers at about 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, fire department spokesman Maurice Luque said. The officers reported that the people were trapped in the tunnel that surfaces in a parking lot on a commercial property in the 10000 block of Via de la Amistad in the Otay Mesa area. The officers said the tunnel appeared to run across the border.

Rescuers said the tunnel does not appear to have collapsed, but the opening is quite small. They are trying to enlarge the exit and free the people who remain inside, Luque said.

The two people freed from the tunnel were taken into custody by Border Patrol officers, Luque said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15207586/