A seven-year-old girl who died after she and her older brother became trapped in a sand hole they were digging on a South Florida beach was “full of love and life,” according to her heartbroken father.
Sloan Mattingly was pulled from the sand after being buried for about 20 minutes after the sand fell on the brothers, according to authorities. His brother Maddox was rescued from the hole on Lauderdale-by-the Sea beach and taken to hospital in stable condition.
Her father Jason confirmed the girl’s death to Wane 15 and said she was seven years old. Broward police had previously said she was five years old.
The family was visiting from Indiana when the tragedy occurred.
Audio from the 911 call reporting the horrific incident offers insight into the frantic moments Tuesday as more than a dozen adults tried to save the siblings trapped in the sand.
Sloan Mattingly died after being buried for about 20 minutes. His heartbroken father said she was “full of life”
Her father Jason confirmed the girl’s death to Wane 15 and said she was seven years old. Broward police had previously claimed she was five years old.
The family was visiting from Indiana when the tragedy occurred.
Witnesses said the children were digging the hole and playing in it when the ground gave way. Mobile phone footage shows the moment crowds of desperate beachgoers began trying to get them out before firefighters arrived.
Bystanders recorded the moments after the collapse showing people on their knees digging with their hands in the sand.
Some tried to hold the walls to prevent more sand from falling on the children.
Sloan had no pulse when she left the arena and was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to authorities. Her brother Maddox was seen walking outside the hospital on Wednesday.
His school in Indiana, Lafayette Meadows Elementary School, issued a statement Wednesday mourning Sloan.
The statement read: “I write this with a heavy heart to inform you that we have lost a precious member of the Lafayette Meadows school family.” Sloan Mattingly was a bright, sweet, and loving first grader in Mrs. Vanbrocklin’s class. Sloan passed away on Tuesday. We will speak to Mrs. Vanbrocklin’s class, as well as Mrs. Kilbourne’s class, since Sloan’s brother is a member of that class, on Thursday.
‘Our administrative team and counselors have support resources available for any student or staff member in need during this time of loss.
‘Please keep the Mattingly family in your thoughts and prayers. They have requested privacy at this time. “We will pass on any additional information the family wishes to share.”
Pompano Beach Fire spokeswoman Sandra King told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that adults who were with the children were too distraught to provide additional details at the scene.
She said the hole was five to six feet deep when it collapsed, leaving the boy buried up to his chest and the girl completely buried beneath him.
A girl who died after becoming trapped in a sand hole she was digging on the beach was vacationing in Florida with her family from Indiana.
Frantic passersby knelt and dug with their hands in a desperate attempt to reach the girl.
It was not immediately clear if any adults were helping the children dig the hole or playing with them.
After the collapse, a crowd of people could be seen standing around the huge well.
Eerily, two cubes could be seen nearby. It is unclear if they belonged to the children trapped in the collapse.
Although deaths from sand holes are very rare, they are not unheard of and studies and warnings have been published about them.
Last week on Jersey Shore Beach, a little boy was trapped after a hole he was playing in collapsed and buried him. After the initial panic, the boy’s father was able to save him.
A crowd gathered to help try to get the children out until authorities arrived.
Last May, a 17-year-old boy died in the small resort town of Frisco, on Virginia’s Outer Banks, after becoming trapped in a hole dug in a dune area behind the main beach dune along the Atlantic Ocean. .
The teenager was buried under several feet of sand after an adjacent dune apparently collapsed into the hole.
After his death, an Outer Banks vacation home and property management company Seaside Vacations wrote a blog after a fatal sand collapse in the area about the dangers of digging holes on the beach.
They said: ‘Sand is, by nature, structurally unstable. Beach erosion, storms and sand mining can weaken the area, which could cause problems even after the hole has been refilled.’
They recommended never digging deeper than knee height, especially in an area with dunes.