Officials in Utah reported that a 13-year-old boy from Santa Clara has died after a sand dune collapsed on him while he was visiting Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.
The teen, identified as Ian Spendlove, was found by park rangers at around 5:30pm after family members who’d witnessed the sand dune collapse onto the boy after he’d been digging a tunnel into the side of it.
The staff immediately began to try and free the boy from under the more than 6ft of sand that stood between him and the surface. Once freed, he was taken to hospital in St George and then onto another hospital in Salt Lake City but he was later declared dead on Sunday after he was unable to regain brain function, a statement issues by the States Park Division read.
“The Utah Division of State Parks extends our condolences to Ian Spendlove’s friends and family impacted by this tragedy. The incident remains under investigation,” it said.