Girl, three, suffocates in beach pit

PARENTS were yesterday warned against letting their children dig large holes on beaches after a three-year-old girl was suffocated when a sandpit collapsed on her.

The youngster suffocated after becoming trapped in a pit dug on Towans Beach in Hayle, west Cornwall, as she played on the beach with her brother.

Rescuers took around half an hour to dig her out of the sand.

Police said the walls of the five foot deep hole collapsed, trapping both the children.

Falmouth Coastguard watch manager James Instance said: "We would advise people that sand is obviously very unstable, so do not dig into sand dunes, or dig large holes in the sand because of the danger of collapse.

"Make sand castles, dig small holes, make dams and enjoy yourself, but do not dig deep holes," he added.

The coastguard, fire and ambulance crews and an air ambulance - with backup from a helicopter from RNAS Culdrose - raced to the scene when the alarm was raised.

The boy was rescued quickly from the sand pit but the girl was stuck.

When she was eventually freed she was taken by air ambulance to Treliske Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 5.50pm.

A police spokesman said that the girl was on holiday with her family, who were from Sussex.

The family were staying at the nearby Beachside Holiday Park in Hayle.

Penwith area beach manager Phil Drew told the BBC: "Our lifeguards were alerted and went to the scene to assist. Members of the public also went to assist, but it became a bit chaotic with the number of people around.

"A lot of sand collapsed back into the hole, then the emergency services arrived and between us we dug for about half an hour and managed to get her out.

"Because of the position the child was in, it was difficult to get any equipment down to keep any resuscitation going for any length of time."

The girl's mother and her partner yesterday laid flowers on the holiday beach where the tragedy happened. In a statement, they said she was a "happy little girl and completely fearless", and thanked everyone who took part in the rescue operation.