Dozens of teenage girls had to be rescued in New York after a school field trip took a frightening turn and they ended up inside an underground drainage system.
The bizarre incident happened Wednesday, June 10, in Nyack, New York, a village in Rockland County about 50 miles north of New York City.
Authorities said the girls, students from Toras Emachu School in Monsey, were visiting Memorial Park on a school trip when some of them entered a large drainage culvert near the park.
The culvert collects much of the water runoff for the Village of Nyack and stretches underground near the village’s downtown area.
What began as curiosity quickly turned into a scary situation when the girls walked deep into the tunnel and became lost, confused, or frightened.
Nyack Mayor Joseph Rand said roughly 70 students were on the trip, though he later clarified that not all of them entered the culvert.
“They saw the culvert, they saw the cave, and they thought, let’s go take a look, see what’s there,” Rand told CBS News New York. “And they started walking, and they just kept walking and walking and walking.”
Some reports said the girls traveled more than half a mile underground before trying to find a way out.
An Orangetown police officer later spotted several girls climbing out of a sewer grate in an alley off Main Street and alerted authorities.
Others emerged through a drain near Hudson House, a local restaurant in downtown Nyack.
Restaurant owner Matt Hudson said he was stunned when his patio suddenly started filling with students.
“I was in the office when I heard kids chattering,” Hudson told CBS News. “I was like, where is that coming from?”
He went outside and found the girls coming up from the drain.
“Sure enough, we came back here into the patio, looked here, and it was filling up with kids,” he said. “They were fine, but they were excitedly talking. They were happy to be getting out of here.”
Emergency crews responded quickly and located the students at different points around Nyack. Police and fire officials helped make sure everyone was accounted for.
All of the girls were able to get out of the culvert on their own, and no serious injuries were reported.
One student was treated at the scene, while another was taken to Montefiore Nyack Hospital after complaining of abdominal pain, according to local reports. Other students reportedly suffered minor cuts and scrapes.
The mayor said the situation could have become much more dangerous, especially if it had rained while the girls were inside the underground system.
“If there had been rain, this could have been much worse,” officials warned.
Rand praised first responders for their quick response and said the incident should serve as a serious warning.
“At some point, they got lost, confused, scared, or some combination, and they tried to get out. People heard them and called 911,” Rand wrote in a social media post. “First responders immediately came to the scene and located all the girls at various points in Nyack.”
The mayor also said the school group did not have a permit for the park trip and reminded the public not to enter the culvert at Memorial Park.
Video from the scene showed dozens of schoolgirls walking along a sidewalk as emergency crews gathered nearby.
Hudson said he was relieved the girls were safe, but the strange scene was unlike anything he had seen in decades of running his restaurant.
“We’ve been here almost 36 years. We thought we saw it all, but no, no, there are still some surprises here,” he said.
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