National

Girl dies after getting buried in sand at Florida beach

Written by ABC AUDIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on February 21, 2024

(FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.) — A young girl has died and her brother has been hospitalized after they fell into a hole they had dug in the sand at a beach Tuesday in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida.

Sloan Mattingly, 5, and Maddox Mattingly, 9, were pulled out of the sand and taken to the hospital, but police later confirmed the girl died at the hospital.

“Our hearts are heavy in LBTS today after learning two children were trapped in the sand,” the Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea said in a statement.

“The preliminary investigation revealed the children, and their parents were on vacation from Indiana. Investigators say the children were digging a hole in the sand when they were trapped. The circumstances into this incident remain under investigation,” the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Police received a call about two children being trapped in the sand at around 3 p.m.

A witness shared video with Miami ABC affiliate WPLG showing one of the children being rushed away by first responders after being pulled from the hole.

“You saw grown men digging with shovels and buckets and nobody could find her,” a witness told WPLG. “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.”