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34 Illegal Immigrants Rescued From Tunnel
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) - Nearly three dozen illegal immigrants spotted clinging to the sides of
a flooded drainage tunnel were rescued Thursday morning by U.S. Border
Patrol agents and police, but at least two others are believed to have
been swept away, officials said.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A search was on Thursday for two to four people believed to have washed into the Santa Cruz River on the American side of the border, said Border Patrol spokesman Jesus "Chuy" Rodriguez.
The immigrants were trying to enter the U.S. through the Grand Tunnel, which runs from Nogales, Mexico, into Nogales, Ariz., when they were discovered at 5:30 a.m., Rodriguez said.
The water flow at that point is north into the U.S., and the area was being hit by a rainstorm.
Heavy summer rain frequently fills flood channels and dry washes in Arizona and northern Mexico, and rain was falling across much of the area Thursday. The drainage tunnel empties into the Santa Cruz River, which runs north.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
