Child (8) buried under sand, rescue services warn: “Please do not dig tunnels”

The incident happened around 10.30 am on the beach between Loodswezenplein and Hendrikaplein. A French-speaking boy gets stuck in a well after digging a tunnel. For a moment he is buried in the sand.

Tunnel

Emergency services rushed to the scene to free the victim. “The eight-year-old boy was very weak. According to what we found, his feet were still out of the sand. The boy was very deep under. And we estimate that he was still under the sand for two to three minutes,” says chief rescuer Thomas Vereecke .

The child was taken to hospital, but his life is not in danger.

call

Chief rescuer Thomas Vereecke of the Nieuwpoort rescue station calls for no tunnels to be dug in the sand. “The sand is very fine in the dunes. It collapses quickly. We urge everyone not to make a well and certainly not a tunnel. It could have ended very badly today.”