It was not your typical school field trip.
More than 70 schoolgirls were located and extracted safely after embarking on an exploration of the storm water sewer system in the town of Nyack, New York, this week — only to get lost in its underground maze, authorities said.
The students from Toras Emachu School, an orthodox Jewish academy from nearby Monsey, entered the drainage culvert in Memorial Park near the town’s central business district on Wednesday.
The group followed a creek in the culvert that eventually led them into an underground section, according to the Monsey Scoop.
They continued exploring for nearly a half mile, reaching an area near downtown Nyack before becoming confused and unable to find their way back, the outlet reported.
Toras Emachu is a private, all-girls school with about 300 students in grades from kindergarten through eighth grade.
A police officer spotted several girls exiting a sewer grate in an alley just off the main drag, News 12 in Rochester reported.
The system emerges in several places around Nyack, a town of some 7,200 residents, located about 26 miles north of New York City.
Emergency responders from local fire departments, nearby communities, and Rockland County responded to assist in the rescue.
Most of the group was reportedly found at one of the openings at Main and Franklin streets.
Apparently, the group had chaperones.
“Rescuers worked to ensure all 71 students and their chaperones were safely accounted for,” the Monsey Scoop reported.
No serious injuries were reported.
However, one student was treated at the scene, and another complaining of abdominal pain was brought to Montefiore Nyack Hospital, according to News 12.
It has not been reported whether school staff directed the excursion into the sewer system or it was something the teenage girls decided to do on their own.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more
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