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New York City police are investigating several incidents in which groups of unidentified individuals have been spotted hopping in and out of sewers via manholes at various locations across the city.
The investigation follows the emergence of surveillance footage, which was circulated on social media, appearing to show a group of men, some with shovels, climbing out of the sewer system in the middle of the night in Brooklyn and Queens.
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In one video, taken early Friday morning in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, a group of roughly seven people was recorded popping out of a maintenance hole in the middle of an intersection, in full view of passing cars, The Associated Press reported.
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Some wore headlamps and carried what appeared to be tools. One narrowly missed getting run over by a vehicle as they pulled themselves out of the ground.
In another incident, three people dressed in waterproof hip waders and other protective gear pried open a maintenance hole cover and descended into the sewer on a street in Queens. The last person pulled the cover shut as approaching cars slowed to a stop.
Aki Jakupovic, the owner of an auto detailing shop, told the AP his shop’s security cameras recorded that group of sewer spelunkers. He said he couldn’t venture a guess as to what the people did below ground, but worried they were “up to no good.”
A spokesperson with the office of the Deputy Commissioner Public Information at the NYPD told Global News about two separate incidents that occurred a day apart and were under investigation by authorities.
In one incident, a group was observed entering a sewer manhole at about 11 p.m. on May 28 and then exiting at approximately 2 a.m., the spokesperson said in an email statement.
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The following day, individuals were reported to have entered another sewer in a different part of the city at 1 a.m. and were allegedly seen exiting at 3:40 a.m., they added.
“The NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit and the DEP’s Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations conducted an investigation inside of the sewer. There is no threat to public safety at this time,” the statement concludes.
No injuries have been reported or arrests made.
Rob Wolejsza, an NYPD spokesperson, stressed to The Associated Press that entering the sewers is both illegal and “extremely dangerous.”
“Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces,” Wolejsza said in a statement.
“For these reasons, members of the public should never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall.”
Last month, a woman died after stepping out of her vehicle and falling 10 feet into an open manhole in Midtown Manhattan.
It was unclear why the manhole was open, police said at the time.
— with files from The Associated Press
Originally published on globalnews.ca — View original