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Subscribe to RSSA California beach party turns deadly after 6-foot deep sand pit collapsed on a 20-year-old man who was laying inside the pit to take pictures of his friends. KNBC's Beverly White reports.
A college exchange student in California was killed Wednesday after a sand pit he dug with friends collapsed on top of him.
The 20-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was an exchange student from Seoul, South Korea at Master’s College in Santa Clara, Calif. He died of injuries suffered when a large pit that he and other students had dug caved in around him at about 4:50 p.m. at Oxnard Beach Park in Southern California, officials from the Oxnard Fire Department said in a statement.
“I think the kids were just having fun on the beach,” Oxnard Fire Battalion Chief Darwin Base told NBCLosAngeles.com. “There was a big group of them down there. They were taking pictures of each other and from what I understand the individual was laying back in the pit and taking pictures of his fellow students and that’s when it sloughed and came in on him.”
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Firefighters arrived to the scene at about 5 p.m. and began digging through the sand with shovels and buckets. The fire department said it took at least 15 minutes to reach the victim.
Rescue crews performed CPR on the man when he was extricated, and he was taken to Ventura County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Witnesses said the pit in the sand was about six to eight feet deep. It was not known why it collapsed.
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Base said digging holes in the sand can be extremely dangerous because the sand and surrounding soil tend to be very unstable. He said lifeguards will warn people who dig holes, but the stretch of beach where the student was buried did not have a lifeguard nearby.
In the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of doctors reported in 2007 they had assembled 52 documented cases involving people buried by sand when a hole collapsed, in which 60 percent of the incidents were fatal, the Ventura County Star reported.
There are no ordinances against digging on the beach in Oxnard.
The man’s name and hometown in Korea have not been released pending the notification of his relatives.
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Simple case of natural selection in progress.
When I was a kid I did this hundreds of times and never had it collapse on me. I have four siblings and the same went for them. It was just something we did. I think part of it is the sand in Oregon. It's "harder, rockier." It's not a fine powder. Anyway, Sadly in the last few years many young people have died from sand pits collapsing. It's something we can not do anymore.
However, I can't believe how cruel everyone is being. This kid was here as an exchange student and now someone has to call the parents...It's bad enough when your loved one dies at home... I just can't imagine getting that call, or having to make that call.
They should give the dead kid a posthumous Battalion Chief award. Seriously, someone named their kid "Darwin?"
OK, at the beginning of the article it says the student was from Seoul, South Korea. Then at the end of the article it states his name and hometown in Korea have not been released. Last I checked, Seoul is a city/hometown, is it not? Maybe they meant suburb or neighborhood. (???)
The student was probably from one the universities there in Seoul.
It's not really a Darwin award here. I know many exchange students and also recent immigrants from Korea mostly who don't have any natural common sense. They are book smart but have been sheltered by their parents all their lives and haven't grown up observing and learning about nature and life in general. So often they do stupid things. I would blame it on the parents.
and all of the other students taking the pictures, they were all Korean exchange students too? There are many American students that are the same way.
Tragic natural selection. I always say stupid people shouldn't breed. Haven't got there yet but at least we have natural selection.
Andrew,
You're next on that natural selection chart.
Chas. Darwin
i can not believe some of the things people would post. This was a young man for god sakes. Have you not ever done something and said to yourself, why did i do that - that wasn't real smart? Well in this case it took somebody's life. Karma is a "b" so keep talking your s---!
I agree with you 100%.
Thank you Creeker70 & ExGamer. I cannot help but agree with both of you.
I thought this kind of thing only happened to poorly supervised seven-year-olds.
How horrible. We are sorry for his loss. It's so unnecessary that a life can be lost this way. Please know that the American people grieve with this family. I know my brothers did things that could have led to their deaths many a time. I cring at Funny Home Videos. Young men get caught up with what others are doing. Teach your sons to be thoughtful in their actions. They need to be taught with love.
So the pit collapsed at around 4:50, the firefighters arrived at 5:00. In that 10 minute interval, his friends did nothing to try to dig him out?
Where was he exactly in the hole? Standing up or down on hands and knees? How much sand fell on him? It's not that easy to try and dig some one out of a hole. You can't be too close as to add more sand to the hole. Also, trying to dig him out you have to try and be aware of where is that person in the hole so you don't injure that person.
sorry yourmothersir, but i know better even as a little kid than to dig deep holes.
all it takes is a little common sense to know that deep holes and sand don't go together.
as others have questioned, what were the other students doing? what were they digging with?
probably others didn't have enough common sense to do the right thing
In this case, it's not "natural selection." This is one of life's lessons that adults cannot teach kids. You can tell Johnny that sand is not stable and it will collapse around him. But, to him, you just sound like an over-protective and boring old person. Kids don't have that little voice in their heads that tell them they're about to do something stupid. And, it gets worse when they are college age, because they feel they have to be wild and free to the extent of hurting themselves.
"Kids don't have that little voice in their heads that tell them they're about to do something stupid."
I reckon they need an app for that.
Stupid is as stupid does, and to all you bleeding heart liberals go f*ck yourselves, this was stupid and these are the consequences of stupidity. This is and adult not a child.
Very well said Kippy. Too many people are afraid to speak the truth and tell it like it is. Sometimes stupidity results in death or injury. Watch TV and you see it everyday. I don't tell my son NOT to do stuff. I tell him to think about the consequences of his decisions, both good and bad. He is very logical in his thinking. But, sadly, too many parents just tell their kids what to do/not do and the result is kids can't think for themselves.
With all due repsect what does being liberal have to do with this? If t his was your kid I hope to imagine you'd have more sensitivity. Thje problem with people like you is you constantly have politics on the brain and actually see eveything as black and white. Us Vs. them.......GOP Vs. Dem etc. We are all human and have more in common than we realize. Grow up.
Sorry for this young man and his family.I guess there are alot of stupid college students out there.Digging a 6-8 feet deep hole in sand and then getting into it, takes all kinds.
"It was not known why it collapsed." Apparently, the writer of this article also never learned that sand is unstable and that 6 to 8 feet of it will collapse.
He was on his back, in a hole, taking pictures of his friends who were obviously not in the hole with him. Who wants to bet the friends were gathered around the hole leaning over to look down at him? Those types of pictures are all the rage and who couldn't guess a bunch of people gathered around a sand pit looking down into it could cause the pit walls to collapse? This nifty picture cost someone their life.....
That's exactly what I was thinking.
Another Educated Idiot!
You are rude.............now go take your meds.
Yes it is sad. But, no way around the fact that it was stupid. 6-8 feet deep, of sand, and does anyone wonder "why it caved in". Sorry, but these kids were not very smart-and that is putting it nicely. Can't believe atleast one person did not have the common sense to say, "Gosh, this might not be very safe." They obviously were not raised to think rationally.
Almost everyone is talking about "how" it happened or "how it could" happen. My first thoughts were, why didn't anyone of the friends or people out there on the beach start to dig him out. It wasn't reported that anyone had tried. So, they called 911 and waited for the paramedics? That in itself is "stupid." People seem to just watch when others are hurt and have no clue that they are supposed to "try" to help! Can you imagine? While he is suffocating to death, the retards are standing around watching and saying stupid comments instead of "reacting." Yes, it might have been stupid to dig a hole, most of us have...but I can guarantee that many of us had "friends" who wouldn't just let us die without trying to SAVE us.....AND...if there were people trying to dig him out besides the paramedics, you would think that the REPORTER would explain that. Oh wait...the reporter thought that information wasn't necessary! Its better to dramatize the article then provide proof that "people" really care about one another!
What an incredibly sad story. He must have been terrified. A young man loses his life, his family loses a loved one, and it will happen again. The young feel invincible.
When our son was little we tried to teach him things such as this. We buried our feet in the damp sand at the beach. It showed him that even when damp sand holds it shape somewhat, it always dries out. Hence the expression "It's like digging a hole in the sand."
I hope and pray our son uses his wits and his intelligence during his life. I know that when a group of friends gets together, starts talking, laughing, daring, joking, and simply having fun, many lessons learned, and warnings, go out the window.
No matter how many try, this is not about politics. This is not about stupidity. This is about being young and feeling indestructible.
The writer may want to change where The Master's College is - it is in Santa CLARITA (40 miles from Oxnard beach), not Santa Clara (250+ miles from Oxnard beach).
Why do people dig pits on the beach? It's honestly got to be one of the stupidest and most dangerous activities possible... but this seems to happen every month or two.
It is Bush's fault,,,where is the Legislation against digging holes in the sand? This must end -gov't must get involved.
hangem21....that Bush's fault is getting old ..... not that I don't find it humorous ... but be a little bolder next time and really tell it to the libotards. Tell them how you really feel, for example....like go f*ck yourself or get your head out your a*s . thanks for listening
"It is not known why it collapsed?" It's SAND! Why oh why must we hear of these awful "accidents". Young kids just don't think - no "consequence" built into the brain yet. So sad! Condolences to all involved and the family.