Beware! A child was buried alive while digging sand on the beach. This seemingly relaxing game may actually be a deadly risk.

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Digging sand on the beach can definitely be listed as one of the top three favorite games for children, but! Digging sand, which seems to be relaxing and enjoyable, can also be fatal.

On February 20, at Lauderdale Beach in Florida, 7-year-old Sloan Mattingly had an accident while digging sand on the beach and was buried alive.

On the day of the accident, 7-year-old Sloan and his 9-year-old brother were on vacation with their parents from Indiana to Florida. While their parents were enjoying sunbathing on the beach, the two siblings were digging holes in the sand with buckets and toys.

According to eyewitnesses, the two children dug a sand pit 1-1.5 meters deep. As they were digging, the sand pit suddenly collapsed and covered the heads of the two children. The two children were not tall to begin with, and the elder brother's head was barely visible, while the younger sister was completely submerged in the sand.

The child's parents immediately asked nearby tourists for help. More than 20 adults tried to dig the sand with their hands and plastic buckets, but in the end they only found in despair that the sand collapsed as they dug. Police officers, medical staff and firefighters arrived at the scene four minutes after receiving the call from the onlookers. They dug the sand with shovels and reinforced the sand hole with wooden boards, but when they dug the girl out, she had already stopped breathing. The 7-year-old girl was eventually pronounced dead in the hospital.

This is not an isolated case. Every year, many people, including adults, are buried or even die while digging sand on the beach.

As early as 2007, scholars from Harvard Medical School and the Minneapolis Heart Institute jointly published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, pointing out the dangers of death caused by sand pit collapse.

They counted 52 recorded fatal and non-fatal incidents over a 10-year period, all of which were caused by people digging sand pits for fun at the beach. Most of the victims were between 3 and 21 years old, 29% of whom were children under 10 years old, and 87% were male.

When the sand pit suddenly collapsed, adults and children were almost completely buried alive in the sand, leaving no trace. 21 of them received timely rescue and CPR, while 31 never woke up again.

Experts suggest that the depth of the sand pit should not exceed the height of the knee, and try not to stay in the pit , because the structure of the sand pit is very unstable and it is easy to collapse in an instant, causing danger. For tourists who have had enough fun, they must backfill before leaving , because even if it is only one bucket deep, it may be dangerous.

In addition to digging sand, some people like to be "buried" by the sand, which is equally dangerous! When there is no water, there is air between the sand, which is in a loose state and people can easily leave the sand. However, if the sea tide rises, once the sand enters the water, the water will fill the gaps between the sand and become more and more compact. At this time, people will be "sucked" and unable to escape, which is very easy to get into danger!

Therefore, if you play the game of "burying people in the sand" on the beach, it is best to have someone accompany you, do not bury too deep , and be sure to stay away from the sea water to avoid danger.

Reference sources: Global Times, Harbin Daily, Knews, Overseas Network, etc.