LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA, Fla. – Two children were trapped after a deep hole they were digging in the sand collapsed on them at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Beach Tuesday afternoon.
It happened at around 3:15 p.m. in the area of 4424 El Mar Drive.
A witness shared video of one of the children being rushed away by first responders after being pulled from the sand hole.
“I mean, you saw grown men digging with shovels and buckets and nobody could find her,” a witness told Local 10 News reporter Christian De La Rosa. “I guess when the wall caved in, she may have been laying flat and so maybe it just kind of pancaked her. The dad was able to pull his son out but the daughter was still underneath the sand.”
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, both children were initially rescued, but the 7-year-old girl was later pronounced dead.
“On scene, emergency personnel located the two children, a young boy and girl,” a BSO spokesperson said. “Both were taken to hospitals for treatment. The investigation into this incident is ongoing.”
Authorities confirmed Wednesday that the boy is 9 years old.
According to Sandra King, a spokesperson for Pompano Beach Fire Rescue, the boy was buried up to his chest in sand when first responders arrived.
She said the girl was completely buried underneath the boy.
The hole was 5 or 6 feet 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.
It wasn’t immediately known whether an adult was helping the children dig the hole.
Editor’s note: In a news release, BSO initially stated that the girl was 5 years old. The agency later issued a correction, noting that she was 7. This story has been updated accordingly.