How could the sand 'engulf' two children and cause the death of one while they were playing on the beach? Specialists explain the event

Last Tuesday, while a young family from Indiana (USA) was enjoying a day of vacation on the beach of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, in Florida, a tragic event changed their lives forever.. Their seven and nine year old children were swallowed by the sand while, according to preliminary information from the police investigation, they were playing by making a hole on the beach when the fatal thing collapsed under their feet and trapped them.. Little Sloan Mattingly, seven and a half years old, died when she arrived at the hospital. His brother Maddox was admitted in critical condition and is now stable.

According to a spokeswoman for the rescue services cited by ABC News group WPLG Local 10, Sandra King, the boy was buried up to his chest when rescuers arrived, while the girl was completely buried under her brother. The hole was between 1.5 and 1.8 meters deep when the collapse occurred, this source added.. The mother of the little ones has shared an emotional farewell message on Facebook.

These rare occurrences are, however, more likely in Miami because of the coral reef beneath this geographic area.. In fact, this event was reminiscent of another similar incident, such as that suffered by Nathan, a six-year-old boy who spent more than three hours under the sand in 2013 in the Indiana Dunes National Park.. In this case, the little boy managed to survive thanks to being buried in an air pocket.. That is known as 'the miracle of Mount Baldy', the area where it occurred, which is currently still in the process of natural restoration.

“In Miami there are many sinkholes because what is underneath is a coral reef, but they are large sinkholes,” the president of the Illustrious Official College of Geologists (ICOG), Manuel Regueiro, tells 20minutos.. “In Miami, when the geological substrate, which is calcareous, dissolves, everything above it sinks. This is called sinkhole in English, which translates as 'sinkhole' and 'hole' in Spanish. This is typical of the Miami coast and many are round and full of water. “They are typical of limestone reliefs,” he adds.

Over time, this process can create caves or cenotes like those on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, a sanctuary for scuba diving lovers.. According to the US Geological Survey, these phenomena are seen with some frequency in Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Florida.

Both Regueiro and his colleague, CSIC geologist Mercedes Ferrer, have no evidence of a similar event recorded on any beach in Spain.. Ferrer, who also has no direct information about the Florida event, explains to 20minutos that “sudden collapses” can occur “when the substrate, the ground beneath the surface, is, above all, carbonate – that is, limestone, dolomite or plasters-, because these materials, with the passage of groundwater, erode and dissolve, and very large cavities are formed that eventually break and sink, dragging whatever is on top.

Regueiro remembers that wet sand resists height better, but dry sand does not make a slope and cannot withstand more than 30 degrees of slope, so it falls.. While the investigation by local authorities progresses and without having more information, Regueiro believes that the hole could have reached a depth greater than the children's height.. In that case, his hypothesis points to “recklessness” on the part of the adults responsible for the minors.. “I find it surprising that someone doesn't realize that this is dangerous,” he says.

From the Rescue and First Aid Federation of the Valencian Community, its training manager, Salvador Perelló, assures that these events “are not common at all” in Spain.. In fact, he continues, “in all my long work experience I have never seen a kit to dig up people because it is not common at all.”. Perelló urges adults responsible for minors on the beach to not lose sight of the little ones to prevent any tragic event.. “They have to be continually under parental supervision,” he assures, while calling to avoid making too large holes in the sand, “which is totally unstable.”. In these cases, the lifeguard indicates that first aid consists of freeing the airways and beginning resuscitation maneuvers.