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On the afternoon of February 20, a sand hole collapsed in Florida’s Lauderdale-by-the-Sea beach and claimed the life of a 7-year-old Indiana girl named Sloan Mattingly, as reported by ABC News. Such a collapse occurs when the sand doesn't get enough time to dry out in a sand hole and people start entering it, eventually leading it to fall through as the wet sand is unable to carry the load.
As per ABC, Mattingly was on vacation and had dug a sand hole with her 9-year-old brother Maddox. However, soon, the 4-to-5-foot-deep hole collapsed and both were buried underneath.
While Maddox was buried up to his chest, Sloan was fully buried. The video of the tragedy taken by a bystander has now gone viral on the internet and shows at least 20 adults trying to rescue the girl using their hands and plastic pails to remove the sand.
Unfortunately, the sand hole kept collapsing on itself and by the time Sloan was taken out, she wasn’t breathing. When the first responders arrived, they attempted to resuscitate her, but failed.
Immediately after, both the siblings were rushed to the local hospital where the 7-year-old girl was pronounced dead on arrival. Her brother is expected to make a recovery.
Exploring how a sand hole collapses
According to NBC 6, a professor and researcher from Florida International University’s Department of Earth and Environment, Dr. Stephen Leatherman explained how a sand hole collapses.
He began by saying, “The deeper the hole, the bigger the risk,” especially for children. If they get inside, the hole can even turn out to be a “death trap.” Dr. Leatherman also said that a sand hole should never be more than two feet deep.
"When people dig holes more than two feet deep and get in them, at least where their body's below the sand level, the sand starts drying out immediately. And dry sand can only hold a 33-degree angle, and people dig these holes almost vertically," he explained.
The Florida International University professor added that as soon as the sand starts drying out and the angle is more than 33 degrees, the sides of the hole immediately cave in, that too in a matter of seconds. He further mentioned that if somebody stepped on the edge of the hole before the sand completely dries out, it results in a huge collapse.
Dr. Leatherman also explained why rescuing someone from a sand hole is almost impossible as the lack of air pockets in the sand makes it easily mobile as well as heavy to remove.
The Department of Earth and Environment researcher concluded by saying how at least three to five children die from sand hole collapse annually, be it from digging at the beach, park, or home. In non-fatal cases, kids end up being severely injured and often need CPR to survive.
A New England Journal of Medicine study even stated that “the risk of this event is enormously deceptive because of its association with relaxed recreational settings not generally regarded as hazardous,” as reported by NBC Miami.
Everything you need to know about Sloan Mattingly’s death
On Tuesday, 7-year-old Sloan Mattingly died after she got trapped inside a 4-5-foot-deep sand hole she was digging at a beach in Florida’s Fort Lauderdale with her brother Maddox.
Initially, the people on the beach tried to recover her, but failed. The beach in concern does not have lifeguards, as per ABC News, so no professional help was also available.
However, within a couple of minutes, paramedics and firefighters appeared after several 911 calls to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, who took over “using shovels to dig out the sand, and boards to stabilize the hole.”
Unfortunately, when the girl was finally rescued, she wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. Officials tried CPR on her, but could not manage to resuscitate. When she was taken to the Broward Health Medical Center, she was declared dead on arrival.
Her brother, who was buried up to his chest, was admitted and is expected to survive, as per the sheriff’s office’s reports to the press. The clip of the incident has now surfaced on the internet and shows several bystanders panicking, while others tried to help.
Sandra King, a spokesperson for the Pompano Beach Fire-Rescue Department who was on the scene, told ABC News that the parents of the children were “extremely distraught” in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“It was a horrible, horrible scene. Just imagine one minute your children are playing in the sand and then in seconds you have a life-threatening situation with your little girl buried,” King observed.
Sand hole collapse is an underrecognized danger and kills and wounds many youngsters every year in the USA. Last year, a 17-year-old boy died on a North Carolina beach. In 2022, a 13-year-old died in Utah State Park while digging into a sand dune. The same year, an 18-year-old died at a New Jersey beach while digging a hole with his sister, as reported by ABC News.
