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Police find five boys lost in NYC sewer tunnel in dramatic rescue

The five boys between the ages of 11 and 12 crawled into a storm drain on Staten Island on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, and got lost

 STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK: Five mischievous boys had to be rescued after they got lost while crawling through a storm drain tunnel in New York City, according to authorities. In an audio released by the fire department, 911 dispatchers try to locate the boys precisely before telling them to yell once help is within earshot.

According to fire department officials, the five boys, who were between the ages of 11 and 12, crawled into a storm drain on Staten Island at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21. The youngsters wandered approximately a quarter mile and then called 911 when they couldn't find their way back, officials said at a news conference on Wednesday.

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'We're stuck in the sewer'

"We're stuck in the sewer," one of the boys said on the recording. "You’re stuck where?" a dispatcher responded, as per ABC News. A second dispatcher who claims to be local made an effort to pinpoint the whereabouts of the youngsters. "Once you went down, was the sewer left, right, straight — where was it?" the dispatcher asked. "I need you to guide me."

'Scream as loud as you can'

The dispatcher ordered the boys to shout when they hear sirens. "Now you can scream as loud as you can," the dispatcher told them over the phone. "They want you to scream and yell." The boys were worried that the rescuers wouldn't hear them. "It sounded like they went past us," one boy says. The dispatcher assured the boys, "They’re not going anywhere, we’re going to get you out of there."

Soon, a responder could be heard saying, "We might have hands on the kids right now," and then, "We have all five children removed from the sewer." The boys were in the tunnel for almost an hour, according to firefighters. None of the youngsters had serious wounds, according to officials, who said they were taken to a hospital for evaluation along with one firefighter. "Amazing that the cellphone worked in the tunnel," FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens told reporters. "That was a key component of us finding them."