PICTURED: Seven-year-old girl who died in Fort Lauderdale sand hole after being buried for 20 minutes as heartbroken father mourns daughter ‘full of love and life’
A seven-year-old girl who was killed after she and her brother became stuck in a sand hole they were digging on a Florida beach was “full of love and life”, according to her heartbroken father.
According to officials, Sloan Mattingly was pulled from the sand after being buried for about 20 minutes after the sand collapsed on the siblings. Her brother Maddox was rescued from the hole on Lauderdale-by-the-Sea beach and taken to hospital in stable condition.
Their father Jason, 35, confirmed the little girl’s death to Wane 15, saying she was seven years old. Broward police had previously said she was 5.
The siblings, their father and mother Therese, 36, were visiting from Fort Wayne, Indiana when tragedy struck on Tuesday.
An audio clip of the 911 call reporting the horrific incident offers a glimpse into the frantic moments Tuesday as more than a dozen adults tried to rescue the siblings trapped in the sand.
Sloan Mattingly died after being buried for about twenty minutes. Her heartbroken father said she was ‘full of life’
Their father Jason confirmed the little girl’s death to Wane 15, saying she was seven years old. Broward police had previously said she was five
The family was visiting from Fort Wayne, Indiana when tragedy struck
Their school in Indiana, Lafayette Meadows Elementary School, released a statement Wednesday mourning Sloan
The siblings’ parents often posted photos of them having fun at the beach
Witnesses said the children were digging the hole and playing in it when the ground gave way. Mobile phone footage showed a crowd of desperate beachgoers trying to dig them out before firefighters arrived.
Bystanders captured the moments after the collapse, with people on their knees digging through the sand with their hands.
Some tried to hold the walls to prevent more sand from falling on the children.
Sloan had no pulse when she emerged from the sand and was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to officials. Her brother Maddox was seen outside the hospital on Wednesday.
Their school in Indiana, Lafayette Meadows Elementary School, released a statement Wednesday mourning Sloan.
The statement read: “It is with a heavy heart that I write this to let you know that we have lost a cherished member of the Lafayette Meadows school family. Sloan Mattingly was a smart, sweet, loving first grader in Mrs. Vanbrocklin’s class. Sloan passed away on Tuesday. We will be talking to Mrs. Vanbrocklin’s class on Thursday, as well as Mrs. Kilbourne’s class, since Sloan’s brother is in that classroom.
“Our administration team and counselors have support resources available for any student or staff member in need during this time of loss.
“Please keep the Mattingly family in your thoughts and prayers. They have requested privacy at this time. We will pass on any further information the family wishes to share.”
A girl who died after getting stuck in a sand hole she was digging on the beach was vacationing in Florida with her family from Indiana
People have left tributes for the seven-year-old on the beach in Fort Lauderdale
Frantic passersby got down on their knees and dug with their hands in a desperate attempt to reach the girl
Pompano Beach Fire spokesperson Sandra King told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that the adults who were with the children were too distraught to provide additional details at the scene.
She said the hole was about five feet deep when it collapsed, leaving the boy buried up to his chest and the girl completely buried beneath him.
It was not immediately clear whether adults helped the children dig the hole or played in it with them.
In the aftermath of the collapse, a crowd of people could be seen standing around the huge pit.
Eerily, two buckets could be seen nearby. It is unclear whether these belonged to the children involved in the collapse.
Although sand hole deaths are very rare, they are not unheard of and studies and warnings have been published about them.
Last week at Jersey Shore Beach, a toddler became trapped after a hole he was playing in collapsed and buried him. After an initial panic, the boy’s father was able to save him.
A crowd gathered to help dig the children out until authorities arrived
Last May, a 17-year-old boy died in the small resort town of Frisco, on Virginia’s Outer Banks, after becoming stuck in a hole dug in a back dune area behind the beach’s primary dune along the Atlantic Ocean. .
The teenager was buried under a meter of sand after an adjacent dune apparently collapsed into the hole.
After his death, an Outer Banks property management and vacation rental company Seaside Vacations wrote a blog following a fatal sand collapse in the area about the dangers of digging holes on the beach.
They said: ‘Sand is structurally unstable by nature. Beach erosion, storms and sand removal can weaken the area and cause problems even after the hole is filled back in.”
They advised never to dig deeper than knee height, especially in an area with dunes.