A horrifying video shows California beachgoers rushing to rescue two boys after the sand hole they were digging suddenly flooded — trapping them in wet sand.
The incident occurred near the Newport Beach Pier last month, when the children were enjoying a day at the beach and digging a large hole by the water’s edge.
The video, posted on X, shows the boys laughing and shoveling out piles of sand as waves from the ocean crash towards them just steps away.
However, the water quickly appears to surge into the hole, causing the walls to cave in and trapping them in the wet sand.
Terrified beachgoers looked on as three adults desperately fought to free the boys from being submerged under the water and swept out to sea.
As the adults struggle to free them, someone is heard frantically calling for someone to “get the lifeguard!”
Moments later, two lifeguards rushed over and immediately jumped into action to help the boys.
Following minutes of tense struggle, the boys were pulled from the hole.
“Once that sand gets wet it gets heavy,” Newport Beach Lifeguards Capt. Mark Herman told Fox 11.
“It basically buried them from their waist down. They couldn’t get themselves out.”
Herman said the boys were lucky that their upper bodies weren’t trapped in the wet sand, or things could have been much worse.
“When [kids are] tunneling, or if they’ve gone too far down and the sand caves in above them, that’s when it can get pretty dangerous,” Herman explained.
Beachgoer Brittney Hood, who witnessed the terrifying situation, said the ordeal left her shaken.
“I couldn’t imagine a hole collapsing on a child. I’m so glad they’re okay,” Hood told the outlet. “We’re enjoying ourselves, but safety is always our most priority.”
Herman emphasized that, although the beach is beautiful, people must remember that it can be dangerous if basic safety precautions are not followed.
“Even shallow holes can collapse with little warning. And when the tide is rising, seconds matter,” Herman said.
There were 52 instances in which people became buried in holes due to collapsed sand, with 31 of them dying from 1997 to 2007, according to a New England Journal of Medicine report.
The victims ranged in age from 3 to 21 years.
In February 2024, 7-year-old Sloan Mattingly died after being trapped under sand for about 20 minutes while digging a hole with her brother on a Florida beach.
Her brother, 9-year-old Maddox, was pulled out by his father and survived.
The children were with their mother and father, visiting Lauderdale-by-the-Sea on vacation, when the tragedy happened.
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