FRISCO, N.C. (WNCN) — A teenager died at the North Carolina coast Saturday after he was trapped under several feet of sand, officials from the Cape Hatteras National Seashore said.
The incident involved a 17-year-old, from Chesapeake, Virginia at the national seashore in Frisco at the Outer Banks, the news release said.
Seashore rangers responded to the scene around 2 p.m. after a 911 call regarding a teenager trapped in a hole, about a tenth of a mile east of off-road vehicle ramp 49 in Frisco, officials said.
“The hole was dug in a back-dune area behind the primary dune and not visible from the beachfront,” the news release said.
Before rangers arrived, family and friends searched for the teen and found him buried under several feet of sand “apparently caused by portions of the adjacent dune collapsing into the hole,” officials said in the news release.
Crews performed CPR on the boy while trying to also free him from the sand.
Dare County Emergency Medical Services personnel and Hatteras Island Ocean Rescue staff assisted with extracting the teenager from the hole and administering CPR.
“Cape Hatteras National Seashore offers our condolences to his family and friends,” David Hallac, superintendent of National Parks of Eastern North Carolina said in the news release. “We urge visitors not to dig deep holes on the beach due to the danger they present to beachgoers and emergency response staff.”
Nearly a year ago, an 18-year-old died and his sister was trapped at the beach at Toms River, New Jersey when a large hole collapsed, police said.
“The teens were reportedly digging a large hole when it collapsed and trapped both of them,” police said in a statement at the time.
Levi Caverly of Union, Maine died and his 17-year-old sister was rescued and treated at the scene, the Toms River Police Department said on May 17, 2022.
The incident on Saturday is still under investigation.
