A quiet afternoon on a beach descended into a chaotic and terrifying scene when two children became trapped in a hole, as the water rose and left them submerged in sand. The two boys were seen digging a hole in Newport Beach, South California, when they became stuck and left screaming for a lifeguard.
As the water began to fill the hole, the boys were trapped up to their waists in sand. Their parents panicked and tried to rescue the children, calling for help. The video – which has been viewed over 20 million times on social media – shows holidaymakers desperately digging in the sand with their hands and buckets while one of the boys called out: “Call the lifeguard!” One of the rescuers even jumped into the hole in an attempt to pull the boys out, while another improvised a dam to divert the water.
Lifeguards rushed to their aid as a group attempted to pull the boys from the wet sand. One official was even seen jumping into the hole as he tried to pull the children from the crater.
After several tense minutes, the boys were finally freed.
Rescuer Mark Herman noted that such incidents happen more frequently than many realise, as even the shallowest of holes can collapse: “When this sand gets wet, it becomes heavy. They were practically buried up to their waists. They couldn’t get out by themselves,” he told Fox 11.
“It’s possible these children had some part of their body above the sand,” he added. “But when children dig holes, if they are too deep and the sand collapses, it can be very dangerous. This is a reminder that the beach can be beautiful but also dangerous.”
Fellow beachgoer Brittney Hood, said she was left shaken by the incident, which occurred last month.
She said: “I couldn’t imagine a hole collapsing on a child. I’m so glad they’re okay.”
It comes just weeks after Riccardo Boni, 17, died after being buried alive in a sand tunnel he built on a beach in the north of Rome. He was at the beach with his family when his five-year-old brother noticed he had vanished. After a frantic 40-minute search, lifeguards and officials recovered the boy’s body from under the sand.
