Jul 27, 1:51 PM EDT

Border Patrol rescues 34 from flooded drainage tunnel

NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) -- U.S. Border Patrol agents and police in Nogales rescued 34 illegal immigrants Thursday morning after finding them clinging to the sides of a flooded drainage tunnel.

From two to four other migrants, however, were believed to have washed into the Santa Cruz River on the American side of the border and a search was ongoing at midmorning Thursday, according to Jesus "Chuy" Rodriguez, a Border Patrol spokesman.

The immigrants were trying to enter the U.S. through the Grand Tunnel, which runs from Nogales, Mexico into Nogales, Ariz., when they were discovered at 5:30 a.m., Rodriguez said. The flow at that point is north into the U.S. and the area was being hit by a major rainstorm.

Heavy rains from the summer monsoon frequently fill flood channels and dry washes in Arizona and northern Mexico, and rain was falling across much of the area Thursday. The drainage tunnel empties into the Santa Cruz River, which runs north.

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