PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Lifeguards at Clearwater Beach are warning about the dangers of holes in the sand at the beach.
It comes after a seven-year-old girl died when she was digging a hole and it caved in on her and her brother in South Florida on Wednesday.
"It's horrible. I mean you're spending the day at the beach, you shouldn't be risking your life or losing your life," said Mark Dunbar, a tourist visiting Clearwater Beach.
Dunbar said when he heard about a seven-year-old killed after a sand hole collapsed on her on Tuesday, he was shocked.
"You're enjoying yourself, and you never think something tragic is going to happen," said Dunbar.
Officials say the girl and her brother were digging the hole at Lauderdale By The Sea's Beach in South Florida when the 5-foot-deep hole collapsed on both of them. The boy survived.
The beach did not have lifeguards.
"I was crippled. I was absolutely heartbroken like many folks and like everyone is," said Patrick Brafford, a lifeguard at Clearwater Beach.
Clearwater Beach does have lifeguards and now, they're warning all of us about the dangers.
"It can be a real safety issue. And if we are digging in areas or digging depth that could turn into a really bad situation, we need to make sure that's discouraged and we recognize that and we recognize it immediately," said Brafford.
Lifeguards said their focus is strictly education and letting people know what they should and shouldn't be doing.
Brafford said his team is monitoring the beach and asking people not to dig deep holes... and if they do, to fill them up completely before they leave.
"We've got to get this information out to people," said Brafford.
He said if you see someone digging a deep hole, you should say something.
"If they don't feel comfortable saying something to those folks, and I understand that, that's what our lifeguards are here for," said Brafford.
"This is something you should stay alert about and be smart about," said Dunbar.
