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Dangerous Dunes

rynner2

rynner2

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Boy, six, pulled alive from Indiana sand dune
[video]

A six-year-old boy has been rescued after being trapped under a sand dune in Indiana for more than three hours, according to US media reports.
The child was in a critical condition on Saturday but was responding well to treatment, hospital officials said.

He reportedly fell into a hole at Mount Baldy on the shores of Lake Michigan on Friday evening and was buried under 11ft (3.4m) of sand.
Michigan City Fire Chief Ronnie Martin said an air pocket had kept him alive.

Fire fighters and police officers, with the help of excavators, spent three and a half hours digging until they pulled the boy out at about 20:00 on Friday (00:00 GMT).

"He isn't out of the woods yet, but... they found him," the Michigan City News-Dispatch quoted La Porte County Deputy Coroner Mark Huffman as saying.
"It is totally amazing. They got him out and rushed him to the hospital."

Reports said the boy, who has not been named, had been with his family at the dune near Michigan City, but they had not seen him fall into the hole.
He was already partially submerged in the sand when they found him. When they tried to extract him, he fell further inside and disappeared. :shock:

A statement from the Chicago hospital where the child was being treated said: "He is listed in critical condition, but when he arrived he was able to respond to simple commands and he has responded well to mechanical ventilation."
It said his parents wanted to thank everyone involved in the rescue effort and asked people to "include this little boy in their prayers".

Mount Baldy is the tallest moving sand dune in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, which covers 15 miles (25km) of the southern shore of Lake Michigan, according to the US National Park Service.

Park officials said the dune would be closed for the weekend while investigators determined the cause of the accident and whether there was any further danger.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23303769
 
The one hole was large enough to swallow a kid, but the other two look to be 15-20 cm or so across.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_ec203a71-c7a9-5e17-b8db-b3e0ee3ed6c8.html

Mount Baldy to remain closed this summer as holes mystery persists

MICHIGAN CITY | Officials at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore announced Thursday that scientists still do not know what caused holes to appear in Mount Baldy last summer, and the popular attraction will remain closed for further study.

Nathan Woessner, 6, of Sterling, Ill., was swallowed by a hole July 12 and rescued by firefighters.

Two additional holes have appeared since July, park officials said Thursday.

Ground penetrating radar studies performed by the Environmental Protection Agency have identified a large number of anomalies below the dune’s surface, but scientists from the National Park Service, Indiana University and the Indiana Geological Survey still do not know how these holes were formed.

“Mount Baldy is one of the most visited sites in the national lakeshore, attracting thousands of visitors each year” said Acting Superintendent Garry Traynham in a press release. “But the continued development of these holes in the dune surface poses a serious risk to the public. Our first obligation must be to the welfare of our visitors who are here for an enjoyable outing.”

The two additional holes and a number of depressions have been found since July. Officials said the holes are short-lived, remaining open for less than 24 hours before collapsing and filling in naturally with surrounding sand.

Officials at the national lakeshore on Thursday announced more testing will be conducted this summer. That work will include mapping of openings and depressions, as well as scientific studies of the internal architecture of the dune.

Park workers will continue planting marram grass on portions of Mount Baldy where the native dune grass used to grow. The extensive root system of the grass holds sand in place and may also help prevent holes from opening up on the dune’s surface, officials said.

All other beach access areas within the national lakeshore remain open.
 
This happens all over the world. It's usually when holidaymakers dig a cave into the side of a sand dune and it collapses on them.

However, there are also 'sand holes' around dunes which people can fall down without the involvement of any stupidity whatsoever.
One Nathan Woessner, 6, barely survived such an accident.

Sand holes are dangerous and interesting. They have several causes. I seem to remember mention of them on'ere but can't find it now.
 
escargot said:
I seem to remember mention of them on'ere but can't find it now.
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Coal said:
Most folk have no idea how dangerous some rivers are. The Stour, my local, even in the upper reaches, which looks gentle enough but is mostly 15 feet deep with nasty holes and back-currents all over the place.
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'Ere it is escargot:

You are right of course, it certainly is dangerous to swim in rivers. Also in lakes and flooded quarries.

There's country park near here with a lake formed from an old sand quarry. People used to be allowed to swim there but it's now discouraged as it's so dangerous. It has sandbars with abruptly-sloping edges off which unwary paddlers can step to their doom.*

There are lots of similarly hazardous places. I see them while travelling sometimes, with kids enjoying splashing around and keeping cool, and I wonder if the locals think it's safe for them. If it's a long-established practice it'll probably seem OK to them. Not like tombstoning and BASE jumping and so on, I mean.


*I've seen this done. My older son was giving his little brother a piggyback there in shine-deep water and pretending to tip him forward into the water, as big brothers do, and Little Brother was screaming his head off, as expected. All good clean fun.

Suddenly Big Son stepped off the sandbank and they both disappeared underwater. I ran in fully-dressed and dragged them both out. If I hadn't been watching them I wouldn't have known where to look.
 
Sid said:

'Ere it is escargot:

You are right of course, it certainly is dangerous to swim in rivers. Also in lakes and flooded quarries.

There's country park near here with a lake formed from an old sand quarry. People used to be allowed to swim there but it's now discouraged as it's so dangerous. It has sandbars with abruptly-sloping edges off which unwary paddlers can step to their doom.*

There are lots of similarly hazardous places. I see them while travelling sometimes, with kids enjoying splashing around and keeping cool, and I wonder if the locals think it's safe for them. If it's a long-established practice it'll probably seem OK to them. Not like tombstoning and BASE jumping and so on, I mean.


*I've seen this done. My older son was giving his little brother a piggyback there in shine-deep water and pretending to tip him forward into the water, as big brothers do, and Little Brother was screaming his head off, as expected. All good clean fun.

Suddenly Big Son stepped off the sandbank and they both disappeared underwater. I ran in fully-dressed and dragged them both out. If I hadn't been watching them I wouldn't have known where to look.
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Well found! :cool:

However, the 'sand holes' I mentioned, such as the one into which young Nathan Woessner fell, are not in pools. They are actual holes in sand dunes caused by various factors such as burrowing animals and decomposed trees. These holes can't be seen from ground level so are easily stepped into.
 
escargot said:
This happens all over the world. It's usually when holidaymakers dig a cave into the side of a sand dune
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What is the entertainment value in this? One goes to the beach where there is sunshine, and water, and soft sandy sand to lay around on. What would possess someone to go digging into a sand dune where it is dank and cold and—plop!
 
IbisNibs said:
What is the entertainment value in this? One goes to the beach where there is sunshine, and water, and soft sandy sand to lay around on. What would possess someone to go digging into a sand dune where it is dank and cold and—plop!
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Sand is easy to dig and holidaymakers (usually men/boys) have the tools handy. Determination and stupidity do the rest.

Here's UK Government article on it, complete with rescue advice -
Sand hole digging dangers

If it’s taken you three hours to dig your hole - that’s how long it might take someone to dig you out.
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o_O
 
escargot said:
Sand is easy to dig and holidaymakers (usually men/boys) have the tools handy. Determination and stupidity do the rest.

Here's UK Government article on it, complete with rescue advice -
Sand hole digging dangers


o_O
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I imagine it might take a good bit longer than three hours 'escargot,' as to dig somebody out of a sand hole, the rescuers would have to dig a wider circumference around the person?
 
Sid said:
I imagine it might take a good bit longer than three hours 'escargot,' as to dig somebody out of a sand hole, the rescuers would have to dig a wider circumference around the person?
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Yup, on that page there's a link to an explanatory video.
 
A Utah teen died after the dune into which he was tunneling collapsed onto him.
Teen buried in sand dune collapse at Utah state park dies

A teenager visiting southern Utah’s Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park died on Sunday after he was entrapped beneath a sand dune that had collapsed on him a day prior.

Ian Spendlove, a 13 year old from the St. George suburbs, was pronounced dead on Sunday after not regaining brain activity lost in the incident ...

After a family member alerted authorities, park rangers arrived at Spendlove’s location Saturday evening to dig him out from what they said was about six-and-a-half feet (two meters) of sand. Rangers said they believed Spendlove had been digging a tunnel into the sand dune when it collapsed on him.

After rangers and Kane County Sheriff’s deputies rescued him and found he had a pulse, Spendlove was transported to St. George Regional Hospital and then to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where he was declared dead. ...
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FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/utah-salt-lake-city-st-george-78a609410d0aa9e3d1522207116245be
 
A Florida man was discovered buried / asphyxiated by a collapsed dune.
Florida man dies after sand dune collapses

Florida deputies believe the death of a 35-year-old man whose body was found near Hutchinson Island, was likely an accident. ...

According to Martin County Sheriff’s deputies, the man appears to have died hours earlier from asphyxia as a result of being trapped under the sand.

Detectives said no foul play was involved and the victim appears to have been resting underneath a sand dune while taking a video of a sunrise, but the sand dune collapsed trapping him underneath the sand.

Investigators are awaiting toxicology results.
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SOURCE: https://www.local10.com/news/florida/2022/08/08/florida-man-dies-after-sand-dune-collapses/
 
This terrible accident happened in Florida. I couldn't find a more general deaths in collapsing sand holes thread so it's here.

Girl, 7, who died after hole she was digging collapsed on her at beach identified

A young girl died when a hole she was digging collapsed and buried both her and her brother on a beach.

The pair had been digging hole five or six feet deep on a south Florida beach on Tuesday, February 20, when the sand gave way and covered them both.

Emergency responders found the boy, eight, buried up to his chest in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea around 3pm, according to Sandra King, spokesperson for Pompano Beach Fire Rescue.

The seven-year-old girl was trapped beneath him. It is not known how long they had been buried, according to Ms King.
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