Los Angeles fire crews rescue woman from underground tunnel in Westlake

Los Angeles Fire Department crews worked for over an hour Tuesday morning to rescue a woman from an underground tunnel in Westlake, with police detaining the woman after she was hoisted up.

Around 7 a.m., work crews discovered the woman at the vacant lot and construction site on Bixel Street near Sixth Street  LAFD reported around 8:20 a.m. that a woman made her way down into an underground tunnel and was not able to get out on her own. Officials said at the time that the woman did not appear to be injured.

Aerial views showed crews attempting to reach the woman by placing a ladder in an opening in the ground amid dirt, rocks and rebar in an effort to access the tunnel below. According to LAFD, the tunnel was actually an opening to what once was a staircase, that led into a basement of what used to be an office building at the demolition site. 

Police officers also surrounded the tunnel, and as the woman was hoisted up around 9:56 a.m., officers detained the woman.