A 12-year-old girl was rescued after a hole she was digging in a sandbar in Texas during a family outing collapsed on top of her, authorities said.
The girl was visiting Panther Creek in the Woodlands, which has about 125,000 residents in the Houston area. She was with her family on Thanksgiving day when the hole collapsed, "covering her completely," the Woodlands Fire Department said.
Authorities responded to a call just before 5 p.m. When they arrived, they found her covered in sand with just her face and head showing. Her father was able to clear the sand from around her head so she could breathe, the fire department said.
First responders from multiple departments worked to free her from the sand. She was unharmed and left with her family, who declined further medical treatment after an evaluation on the scene.
"First responders from four agencies worked together seamlessly to turn a near tragedy into a Thanksgiving story that will be told for decades!" the fire department said.
Though often considered a classic beach activity, digging holes in the sand can be dangerous and even deadly, officials around the country have warned. Sand forming a hole can dry out and become unstable, causing it to collapse in and fill open spaces, leaving no air for the person trapped inside, Florida International University coastal science professor Stephen P. Leathermanwrote.
It's very difficult to rescue someone from a collapsed hole because sand is heavy, and as rescuers scoop sand out of the hole, it will continue to collapse back into the hole under the rescuers' weight. It can take just three to five minutes for a trapped person to suffocate, Leatherman said.
Don't dig a hole deeper than your knee, the National Park Serviceadvises. If you dig a hole, fill it afterward, experts say. Holes left behind can be dangerous to other beachgoers.
A 7-year-old girl was killed at a Florida beach when a hole she was digging with her 9-year-old brother collapsed on both of them, authorities in Broward County said in February 2024. The girl was completely buried under her brother, who was buried up to his chest, in the 5- to 6-foot hole they dug, news outletsreported. The brother survived.
Children and teens have also been trapped, injured orkilledwhen sand collapsed on them inNew Jersey,CaliforniaandMichiganin recent years, according to reporting from the USA TODAY Network.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:12-year-old girl rescued after hole collapses in a sandbar
