Little Girl Killed After Hole She Dug On FL Beach Collapsed

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — A little girl died on a south Florida beach Tuesday when a deep hole she and a boy were digging in the sand collapsed on them both, authorities said.

Emergency crews responded around 3 p.m. to El Mar Drive in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, where they first found the 8-year-old boy buried up his chest in sand, according to Sandra King, a spokesperson for Pompano Beach Fire Rescue.

The girl, about 7 years old, was completely buried underneath the boy, King told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The hole was 5 or 6 feet deep when the collapse happened, she said.

Rescuers used support boards to keep more sand from collapsing in as they used shovels to dig the children out, King said. She didn't know how long they were buried.

"It was an unfathomable accident," King said, according to the Miami Herald.

It wasn't immediately known whether an adult was helping the children dig the hole.

The girl was rushed to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, where she was pronounced dead, King said. The boy was hospitalized in stable condition.

"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 Tuesday evening.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.