A group of boys who crawled into a Staten Island storm drain on Tuesday night were rescued by the New York City Fire Department after getting lost in the twist of tunnels, officials said. The five boys, ages 11 and 12, moved around 1,500 feet into the sewer system on their hands and knees before calling 911 around 6 p.m. It was “dark, a lot of spiders, and really tight,” one of the boys told PIX11 News. “We were scared that we would not get out because our legs were numb.” In an edited version of the 911 call released by the FDNY, one of the boys can be heard saying, “We’re like.. we’re stuck in the sewers.” The dispatcher replies in apparent disbelief, “You’re stuck where?” The child repeats, “In the sewers.” Firefighters worked for about 30 minutes to find the group, opening around 10 manholes as dispatch worked with the boys to locate them. When emergency personnel got close, the dispatcher instructed the boys to “scream as loud as you can.” All five were pulled out of the sewer and transported to a medical center for evaluation, but are expected to be fine.
