Five rescued from pipe at border

Written by Debbi Baker
6:40 a.m., Nov. 2, 2011
Updated 8:50 a.m.

OTAY MESA — Five people suspected of trying to enter the country illegally through a narrow pipe under the border had to be rescued early Wednesday.

Border Patrol agents first spotted the group entering the passageway through a manhole in Mexico east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, Border Patrol Agent Michael Jimenez said.

Five were seen climbing into the hole while six others stood nearby.

Agents searched for the pipe’s U.S. exit and found it using a dog about two hours later. It was located north of the secondary fence south of Via De La Amistad and east of state Route 905, Jimenez said.

A man inside the hole kept quiet as agents conducted the search but when they located the opening they found him looking up and he asked for help, Jimenez said.

Agents removed him and called for assistance from fire agencies.

Crews from San Diego and Chula Vista fire departments responded and enlarged the opening and removed three more men and one woman by about 2:20 a.m.

They were hosed off, assessed medically and then turned over to the Border Patrol for processing, Jimenez said. All five were from Mexico, the agent said. No injuries were reported.

The passageway was determined to be an abandoned gas line. It was approximately 100 yards long and about 4 feet underground with a circumference of about two and a half feet, Jimenez said.

One portion of the narrow, concrete-lined pipe was filled with water.

“They could barely keep their heads above the water level to breathe,â€