Two dead people found in a California man-made cave with fentanyl

A pair of people, one a homeless man, were found dead in a man-dug cave Sunday in Northridge, near Los Angeles. White powder containing fentanyl was also found.

At 10:30 a.m., Los Angeles City Fire Department personnel arrived at the cave and found the two deceased along with the powder. Hazardous material specialists were called while another team retrieved the corpses.

“It was a very small opening dug into a hillside. If you were inside, you weren’t under that much soil,” LAFD spokesman Nicholas Prange told the Los Angeles Daily News.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified one of the decedents as 57-year-old Benjamin Felix Varela, a homeless man, while the other person was not identified, USA Today reported.

The powder was at least partially fentanyl, LAFD Battalion Chief Scott Hilton told KABC-TV. The department secured and disposed of what powder remained after the wind blew it around.

Fire officials noted in a subsequent update that no off-site hazard was posed by the white substance that blew away and dissipated.

The cause of Mr. Varela’s death is being withheld pending further investigation, according to the medical examiner’s website.