FORT LAUDERDALE (AP) – A young girl was buried in sand and died on Tuesday when a deep hole she was digging with a little boy collapsed on them both at a south Florida beach, authorities said.
Emergency crews responding around 3pm to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea found the boy, who is about eight years old, buried up his chest in sand, said spokesperson for Pompano Beach Fire Rescue Sandra King.
The girl, about seven years old, was completely buried underneath the boy, King told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
The hole was 1.8 metres deep when the collapse happened, she said.
Rescuers used support boards to keep more sand from collapsing in as they used shovels to dig the children out, King said. She didn’t know how long they were buried.
The girl was rushed to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, where she was pronounced dead, King said. The boy was hospitalised in stable condition.
It wasn’t immediately known whether an adult was helping the children dig the hole.
