Family mourns as girl who died after getting trapped in beach hole is pictured
A seven-year-old girl who tragically died after a sand hole collapsed on her at a beach has been pictured as tributes pour in for the 'sweet' student.
The sad incident happened while Sloan Mattingly, seven, and her older brother Maddox, nine, were playing on a beach in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, a town in the northern end of Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday afternoon.
They decided to dig a hole, but it sadly collapsed on them, completely burying Sloan and partially swallowing her brother. Their parents and some passersby tried their best to dig them out, with some even using boards to shovel sand to find the young girl.
Maddox was pulled out by his dad. Once they found Sloan, both children were rushed to a local hospital - but sadly, Sloan didn't survive. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. Some reports suggest that she was crushed by the sand, unable to breathe or move.
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The hole Sloan and her brother dug was about 5 to 6 feet deep and was later blocked off by cones (CBS)The hole they had dug was reportedly around five or six feet deep. The first call about the tragedy reached the Broward County Sheriff's Office at around 3pm local time. The area is reportedly not serviced by lifeguards.
"The circumstances into this incident remain under investigation," the Broward County Sheriff's Office said in a statement obtained by ABC7. The town of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea also released a statement, which reads: "Our hearts are heavy in LBTS today after learning two children were trapped in the sand."
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Sloan and her brother both became trapped in the sand as they dug a hole while on vacation with their family in Florida from Indiana (Jason Mattingly/Facebook)
Sloan was a first-grader at Lafayette Meadows Elementary School, which released a statement remembering the young girl (Jason Mattingly/Facebook)It was reported that Maddox is in stable condition. Pompano Beach Fire Rescue spokeswoman Sandra King told the Miami Herald that what happened was an "unfathomable accident". She said poor Sloan had stopped breathing by the time she was located in the sand. Despite "life-saving techniques to try and bring her pulse back", they were ultimately unable to bring her back to life, which is when she was pronounced dead at the hospital, she said.
It's not clear how long the young girl was buried under the sand. Her community at Lafayette Meadows School in Indiana, where both she and Maddox were and are students, remembers her as a "precious member of the Lafayette Meadows school family", according to a statement obtained by ABC7.
While Maddox was only buried up to his chest, his sister was completely submerged in the sand, where she either suffocated or was crushed (CBS)"Sloan Mattingly was a bright sweet, loving 1st grade student in Ms. Vanbrocklin's class. Sloan passed away on Tuesday. We will be talking with Ms. Vanbrocklin's class, as well as Ms. Kilbourne's class, as Sloan's brother is a member of that classroom, on Thursday," the statement from elementary school principal Jenny Fedele read.
"Please keep the Mattingly family in your thoughts and prayers. They have requested privacy at this time. We will pass along any further information the family wishes to share."
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