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Two pre-teens rescued after getting sucked into storm drain

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Two pre-teens in Federal Way had to be rescued from a storm drain Thursday.

Federal Way police and firefighters were called to the area of 34000 Pacific Highway South for a report of two children who had gotten stuck in a drain.

According to police, two 12-year-old boys were playing in a wooded area northeast of Kitts Corner Apartments, where there was stormwater runoff and were sucked into a drainage tube by a strong current.

“We all know how powerful water can be about ankle deep. They most likely got swept away from there and then brought into the drain, says Commander Raymond Bunk with the Federal Way Police Department.

Rescuers found the boys in a concrete basin clinging to a ladder.

Authorities said the weight of the basin cover had prevented the kids from exiting the basin on their own.

Rescuers, along with maintenance workers from the Kitts Corner Apartments, removed the cover and pulled the two boys out.

“They could have easily been trapped inside there and easily drowned in that situation,” says Commander Bunk.

One of the boys was treated for a cut to his leg.

The incident is being investigated by maintenance crews, police said.