Man Killed in Sand Hole Collapse at CA Beach

A 26 year-old California man was killed after a hole he dug on a Northern California beach collapsed and trapped him under the sand.

Adam Pye, a recent college graduate, was at Half Moon Bay Beach, located outside San Francisco, with friends, when they decided to dig holes in the sand. Pye dug a hole approximately 10 feet deep and was standing in it when the walls of the hole began to collapse, burying him.

Friends and bystanders tried digging him out, using hands, shovels and other tools. After five minutes of digging, they managed to get Pye’s head above the sand, but he was already unconscious. Emergency responders began arriving at the scene, and paramedics did manage to open up the young man’s airways.

Emergency crews and volunteers working frantically to rescue Adam Pye from a sand hole.

It took 30 firefighters, with the help of bystanders, another 35 minutes to dig Pye out and remove him from the hole. However, attempts at reviving him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Just one month ago, another man, 49 year-old David Frasier of Fredericksburg, Virginia, died in a similar accident at a beach in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Frasier was standing in a four feet hole when its walls collapsed on top of him.

Rescue efforts in confined space areas require special training. Emergency Film Group’s Technical Rescue Package provides in-depth training in multiple rescue disciplines at a significant savings. The package includes six DVDs plus four texts providing a study of the skills and knowledge needed to safely locate and extricate victims.