A 17-year-old boy from Virginia visiting North Carolina’s Outer Banks has died after the walls of a hole he was digging on the beach collapsed, burying him in several feet of sand.
The tragic incident unfolded around 2 p.m. at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in Frisco, North Carolina, according to the National Park Service.
The teenager had been visiting from Chesapeake, Virginia, when he became trapped in a sand hole that was dug in a back dune not visible from the beachfront, officials said.
His family went looking for him and found him buried under several feet of sand, “apparently caused by portions of the adjacent dune collapsing into the hole,” according to the statement.
Seashore rangers and family members worked together to dig the boy out of the pit while performing CPR on him.
Despite life-saving efforts by Dare County EMS and Hatteras Island Ocean Rescue personnel, the teen could not be revived.
“Cape Hatteras National Seashore offers our condolences to his family and friends,” said David Hallac, superintendent of National Parks of Eastern North Carolina. “We urge visitors not to dig deep holes on the beach due to the danger they present to beachgoers and emergency response staff.”
As of Monday, the 17-year-old victim has not been identified, and there was no word on his cause of death.
Last May, an 18-year-old boy and his sister were digging a large hole on a beach at the Jersey Shore when the sand collapsed, trapping both siblings.
Levi Caverly, from Maine, was pronounced dead, but his injured 17-year-old sister survived.
In July 2020, a boy was rescued from a caved-in sand hole in Belmar, New Jersey, by a group of first responders.
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