LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA, Fla. — Disturbing audio from a 911 call details the efforts to save a young girl who died after being trapped in a collapsed sand hole at a popular beach resort in South Florida.
Several media outlets, including NBC 6 South Florida, obtained the phone recording. The call was made Tuesday afternoon when 7-year-old Sloan Mattingly and her 9-year-old brother became trapped in sand that had collapsed on top of them as they dug a hole about 6 feet deep, according to investigators.
In the call, several people can be heard screaming in the background.
"I hear the father started yelling for help," the witness told the dispatcher. "[He] said his child is caught in a hole in the sand... a bunch of people are digging."
The witness also said Mattingly's mother was "yelling, 'My daughter's in there!'"
Officials say the family was visiting the High Noon Beach Resort in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea while on vacation from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is a small town near Pompano Beach and does not have lifeguards on its stretch of beach.
The young boy was able to be rescued as he was trapped up to his chest in the sand, according to Pompano Beach Fire Rescue (PBFR).
Audio from the 911 call includes the dispatcher asking the witness if Mattingly is at all visible.
"Is the child's head above the sand?" the dispatcher asked.
"They do not see her head," the witness replied, going on to say Mattingly's whole body was trapped beneath the sand.
The witness said all that was visible above the sand were buckets, sticks and plastic shovels, according to the phone recording.
First responders can then be heard arriving at the scene. The background of the audio contains the sounds of cries and shouts, as the group works to dig Mattingly out of the hole.
Sandra King, a spokesperson for PBFR, said crews used shovels to remove the sand, along with boards to stabilize the sides of the hole and prevent further collapse. She said Mattingly did not have a pulse when officials got to her.
"It was a horrible, horrible scene," King said. "Just imagine one minute your children are playing in the sand and then in seconds you have a life-threatening situation with your little girl buried."
Officials say Mattingly was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
News reports and a 2007 medical study suggest about three to five kids die in the U.S. each year when they become trapped in a collapsed hole in the sand. Numerous others end up seriously hurt and require CPR to survive the incident.
"[Parents] know that the sand might slide down or that a wall could collapse, but they don't seem to envision their child being buried in the sand so quickly," said Shawn DeRosa, who runs a firm that trains lifeguards.
"Nor do they appreciate the real challenge in getting the child out of the sand once the collapse has occurred," he said.
A GoFundMe campaign has been created for the family to go toward funeral costs and other financial stressors, according to the site's description.