UPDATE: Firefighters End Search For Kids In Manhole

Colorado Springs Fire crews have stopped searching for three kids who apparently went down a manhole.

Firefighters say the three were seen going into a manhole in the area between Platte and Murray and Academy and Murray on Monday morning. They initially believed the children may be lost.

Lt. Kriss Soppe with the Colorado Springs Fire Department says crews searched the sewer system in all directions from the point of entry. Soppe says they found more than one exit point in which the children probably escaped. He says crews also changed the air quality in the sewer to a “survivable” air quality. The air quality was not initially livable in some areas.

Soppe says there is about 100 feet of drain that is about 5 feet in diameter. He says it would be cramped but not difficult for the children to move quickly.

Springs Utilities, Matt Curran and his partner were driving by off Platte when they first spotted the children near the open manhole. They backtracked and went down in the hold to try and coax them out. They saw two children, but possibly heard a third voice in the dark system. Both are Hispanic. One is a little girl between the ages of 10-13 years old. She had long black hair and was wearing a white top. Curran said the boy was between 13-14 years old, carrying a bag full of water. Both children took off running. Curran then called emergency crews to help with the search.