{"id":414968,"date":"2026-01-15T16:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T16:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/414968\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T16:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T16:10:15","slug":"teenage-best-friends-die-after-sand-hole-collapses-burying-them-alive-at-florida-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/414968\/","title":{"rendered":"Teenage best friends die after sand hole collapses, burying them alive at Florida park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two teenage boys have tragically died after the sand hole they dug collapsed on them and buried them alive in a Florida park.<\/p>\n

The 14-year-old best friends were playing at Sportsman Park in Inverness, Florida on Sunday when the 1.5m deep hole they had dug in the sand collapsed on top of them, according to the Citrus County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the boys were identified as 14-year-olds George Watts and Derrick Hubbard, the Florida District 8 and District 5 Medical Examiners\u2019 offices told ABC News.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe caller reported that two 14-year-old children were lost in the park, and there was a large hole; the caller thought the children were trapped inside the hole,\u201d the sheriff\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

Around 12.44pm local time, the boy\u2019s parents found their bikes and shoes by the sandpit, however when they couldn\u2019t find the two teenagers they called authorities and started digging, Fox13<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

Deputies, firefighters, and medical services rushed to the park in an attempt to rescue the boys after one of the parents pinpointed the location of their son\u2019s phone – showing they were underground.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe boys had dug a hole in the sand near Sportsman Park in Inverness, Florida. Credit: Google Maps<\/p>\n

Almost half an hour after the boys were first reported missing, they were pulled from the sand and immediately given CPR before being taken by ambulance to HCA Florida Citrus Hospital in Inverness.<\/p>\n

Mr Watts was alive and had a pulse when first responders got to him, however he wasn\u2019t conscious or breathing on his own. He was flown to UF Health Shands in Gainesville in a critical condition, but unfortunately died on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Mr Hubbard was unresponsive without a pulse when first responders reached him. Despite immediate CPR, he was pronounced dead at the hospital later that day.<\/p>\n

Jasmine Watts, the mother of Mr Watts, shared a heartbreaking message on a GoFundMe<\/a> post for the boys, calling the incident an \u201cunimaginable nightmare\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile playing together, the boys dug a tunnel in sugar sand and were inside when it suddenly collapsed. In an instant, our world was shattered,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"AccordingAccording to friends and family, the two boys were inseparable. Credit: Jasmine Watts\/GoFundMe<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat should have been another day of childhood adventure turned into a heartbreaking loss that no parent should ever have to endure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Watts said the boys shared a bond that went beyond friendship: \u201cThey were inseparable, full of life, curiosity, and dreams for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, the Citrus County Sheriff\u2019s Office said: \u201cOur hearts are with both families as they grieve the tremendous loss of their sons.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope the community will continue to respect their privacy and unite in remembering and celebrating both boys\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two teenage boys have tragically died after the sand hole they dug collapsed on them and buried them…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40,2957,1720],"class_list":["post-414968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-usa","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}