Teenager rescued after sand burial

The mother of a teenage boy who was buried when a sand cave collapsed on a beach in California has thanked bystanders and emergency responders who came to his rescue.

Melissa Mina, of Free Union, Virginia, told The Associated Press today that she is grateful to everyone that her son Matt is alive.

Seventeen-year-old Matt Mina was buried in the collapse of a deep hole he dug in the sand at Newport Beach yesterday.

Beachgoers sprang to his aid, using anything available to dig for him. Firefighters and lifeguards

eventually got him out.

Ms Mina said she asked her son by phone how it felt to be buried alive and he commented on how heavy the sand was.

Matt was visiting an aunt and uncle in Southern California.