How to save oneself from sand collapse? 5-year-old girl dies after being trapped in a hole she dug on a Florida beach

A tragic accident took place on Tuesday, February 20, in Fort Lauderdale when a little girl around the age of 5-7 was killed after a deep sand hole she dug at a beach in South Florida, along with another young boy, collapsed on them both. The boy was rescued and hospitalized after being found buried chest-deep in the sand, but unfortunately, the girl was wholly submerged beneath him.

The incident highlighted the many dangers of the widespread practice of digging holes in the beach. According to CBS, when a hole is made in a beach zone where the tide has receded, and the sand is moist, it can quickly dry up and weaken, leading to a sudden and unexpected collapse.

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The little girl rescued from the collapsed sand hole was pronounced dead on arrival

According to CBS Miami, Tuesday's tragedy occurred at a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea beach in Fort Lauderdale at approximately 3 p.m. The outlet reported that two children, one girl around 5-7 years old and another boy around eight, were digging a hole at the beach alongside a few adults when suddenly the whole structure collapsed.

The boy was buried up to his chest while the girl was completely submerged beneath the boy. Video footage showcased first responders from the Pompano Beach Fire Rescue and a few good samaritans working hard using their hands, boards, and shovels to clear the sand and get to the submerged child.

The boy was rescued and remains stable at the Broward Health Medical Center. A Pompano Beach Fire Rescue spokesperson, Sandra King, told the Miami Herald that the little girl had ceased breathing when the rescuers finally reached. Paramedics tried reviving her on the way to the hospital, but the child was tragically pronounced dead on arrival. King told the outlet,

"We were conducting life-saving techniques to try to bring her pulse back, and it never did recover, and she was pronounced dead at the hospital,"

Aerial footage from CBS News also showed the area of the incident outlined with cones and police tapes. The New York Post reported that the hole dug by the children was around 5- to 6-foot-deep.

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Getting submerged in a sand hole is a life-threatening situation

The harrowing incident highlighted the many dangers of digging holes at the beach. A 1997 to 2007 New England Journal report by Harvard Medical School associate professor of medicine Bradley A. Maron detailed that out of the 52 incidents of sandhole collapses, 60% led to death. Boston.com quoted Maron as stating,

"They occur with regular and predictable pattern every summer in the United States. We know that preventing them requires awareness and not digging."

The study also mentioned that not every hole involved in tragedies was huge, with sizes ranging from 2 to 12 feet. Therefore, the situation can appear less risky, even if it is. Maron advised people to have fun at the beach without digging holes and stated that digging holes was a risk that wasn't worth taking.

North District Lifeguard Supervisor for the Cape Cod National Seashore, Gordon Miller, was quoted by Boston.com explaining,

"Typically, victims became completely submerged in the sand when the walls of the hole unexpectedly collapsed, leaving virtually no evidence of the hole or the location of the victim."

Pulling out a person submerged in a hole is not easy either. If a person of the same height as the hole is submerged by it head-first, then Miller said that the person was in "real, real trouble." Miller further stated,

"It’s a life-threatening situation. You think you can just walk over and pull them up, but you can’t. The sand grabs you. There’s like a suction there. It’s holding them in."

Incidents like these are not uncommon. Back in 2022, an 18-year-old named Levi Caverly lost his life when a hole he was digging with his 17-year-old sister on a New Jersey beach suddenly collapsed, trapping both of them.

After the incident, a Virginia fire official told WTVR CBS in an interview that people should only dig holes up to the height of the knees of the shortest person in their group. The department also asked people not to panic if they were stuck in the sand as equipment was designed to dig them out, but it would still take time.

More recently, in May of last year, an 18-year-old boy passed away when a hole he was digging at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in Frisco, North Carolina, collapsed on him, submerging him several feet deep in the sand.

Apart from deaths from the collapse of the structure, these holes can also delay and be a deterrent to any emergency services on the beach. They can even cause damage to rescue vehicles. People can also get injured falling into these holes. Sea turtles who lay their eggs on the beach can get trapped due to the holes. It could be fatal for sea turtle hatchlings.