Latest: Boy rescued from pipe says he prayed he wouldn't die

LOS ANGELES – The Latest on a boy who fell into a drainage pipe in a Los Angeles park (all times local):

6:15 p.m.

A Los Angeles teen rescued after spending more than 12 hours in the city's underground sewer system says he prayed that he wouldn't die.

Thirteen-year-old Jesse Hernandez tells KNBC-TV he was tired and a bit scraped up — but otherwise OK — after his ordeal.

The boy was swept away after wooden planks gave way while he was playing in an abandoned maintenance building on Sunday. He plunged 25 feet (7.62 meters) into a drainage pipe. Rescuers located him and hoisted him to safety Monday morning

Hernandez tells the news station it was dark in the pipes and the only sound was rushing water.

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6:25 a.m.

Los Angeles authorities have rescued a 13-year-old boy who fell into a drainage pipe at a park while spending Easter with his family.

Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart says Jesse Hernandez was found early Monday when crews opened a hatch on a system of pipes to lower a camera. The search lasted about 12 hours.

Jesse is described as alert and talking, and he was given a cellphone to call his family. He's been taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation.

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12:59 a.m.

Los Angeles authorities are searching for a 13-year-old boy who fell into drainage pipe at a park while spending Easter with his family.

The Los Angeles Times reports Jesse Hernandez was at Griffith Park on Sunday afternoon where he and his cousins were jumping on wooden planks in an abandoned maintenance building. One of the planks broke and the teen plunged 25 feet (7.62 meters) into a 4-foot-wide (1.22-meter) drainage pipe.

Officials studied maps of the closed sewage pipe system, which stretches hundreds of feet, and sent a camera attached to a flotation device 300 feet (91 meters) down a pipe.

Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman David Ortiz said rescuers couldn't enter the drainage area themselves because of the hazardous environment.

Crews are expected to search through the night.