Sand Tunnel Death: Boy Dies When Sand Tunnel Collapses On New Jersey Beach

A 12-year-old boy died on Wednesday after his sand tunnel collapsed at the Long Branch beach in New Jersey.

According to the APP, the 12-year-old boy, who has been identified as Ezra Cornman, and his younger brother were digging a tunnel in the sand on the beach on Wednesday morning. The walls collapsed, trapping the older boy beneath the sand.

Lifeguards dug the boy out of the sand and rushed him to the Monmouth Medical Center. Wpix reports that the boy was breathing when he entered the hospital but died shortly after arrival.

Police in New Jersey said that the tunnel was about three-feet deep. They also said that the child was trapped for less than ten minutes. An official cause of death has not been released.

According to the Lookout, sand tunnel deaths are not uncommon. From 1990 to 2010, 16 people died from similar beach hole accidents. Other sources, like a report in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled, “Sudden Death from Collapsing Sand Holes,” report that there were 31 sand tunnel deaths during a 20-year span.