A woman attempting to illegally cross into the U.S. from Mexico had to be rescued from a sewage drainage pipe near the U.S. border on Wednesday morning.
Border Patrol officials said the woman was part of a larger group using the pipe -- which starts in Mexico and ends in San Ysidro -- to enter the U.S. The woman hurt herself when she fell while getting into the pipe on the Mexican side.
Agents said the group dragged her through the tunnel to the U.S. and then abandoned her when they were unable to take her any farther. The woman's husband stayed with her, however.
San Diego Fire Rescue was able to get the woman out of the pipe. She was then taken to a hospital by air ambulance.
One agent said that it is common for people to try and use the drainage pipes to cross the border. The undertaking is extremely dangerous, they said, because the pipes can often contain more than a foot of water and sewageand the pipe is no more than 4 feet in diameter at any point.
The woman and her husband will eventually be processed and possibly sent back to Mexico, according to the Border Patrol.
