EDWARDSVILLE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — There is relief on Tuesday after Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) crews lost communication with workers who entered a tunnel in Luzerne County.
The call came in just after 10:00 a.m. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending.
A small group of PennDOT employees was making measurements and checking for erosion in a routine inspection of a flood tunnel in Edwardsville.
Those employees were making their way through the tunnel when they lost cell service. That's when an employee on the outside of the tunnel called 911.
For a time, the employees could hear emergency personnel on the other end, but the EMS workers couldn't hear their responses. Soon after, the workers were able to wade through Toby Creek and make it out.
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Jack Bonczewski is the Edwardsville Fire Department's chief engineer.
"They were perfectly safe the whole time in there, but we couldn't hear them. So, we took the precautionary to be on the safe side. You know, they walked out of the tunnel. Everything was as scheduled on their part," Chief Engineer Bonczewski told 28/22 News.
He's seen a lot in his 37 years at the department and is grateful this story has a happy ending.
"Were you at all concerned that there might be some sort of issue here?" 28/22 News Reporter Joe Mason asked.
"We're always concerned about that. They're in a tunnel, no communications. That's why we brought the whole technical, Luzerne County Technical Rescue Team in. Big relief, everybody is safe. Everybody gets to go home tonight," Chief Engineer Bonczewski added.
Several local EMS workers came out from Edwardsville, Larksville, and Kingston to help and are grateful nothing too serious happened there.
