ST. GEORGE – A 15-year-old Santa Clara girl was flown to the hospital Friday afternoon after being buried in a collapsed hole at the sand dunes in Snow Canyon State Park.
Chief Deputy Shauna Jones of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that Sheriff’s deputies and officers from Ivins/Santa Clara Police were dispatched to the state park after receiving a report of a female teen buried in the sand dunes around 3 p.m.
The girl had been playing with younger siblings who, at the time, had dug a hole in the dunes to stay cool. When the family prepared to leave the area, they discovered the girl was missing. They returned to the hole and saw it had caved in, and also saw some of the girl’s hair sticking out of the sand. They began to dig the girl out and called for other adults to help.
The girl was not breathing and about seven people were trying to dig her out of the hole. Officers at the scene estimated that the hole was at least 4-feet deep. CPR was started by first responders and Life Flight took the the girl to Intermountain Healthcare Southwest Region’s Dixie Regional Medical Center while CPR was still in progress. No vital signs were reported at that time.
It was later reported that some vitals were obtained at the hospital. The girl has since been flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City where she remains in critical condition, Jones said.
The incident is being investigated as an accident by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
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Omg how horrible!! Praying this girl recovers! This is so sad!