Adam Jay Pye, 26, died on Monday night at Francis Beach in Half Moon Bay after he was trapped for at least five minutes under a sand hole that collapsed on him.

Pye was digging a hole that was 10-feet deep when the surrounding sand caved in and trapped him. Pye’s friends and other bystanders dug out the sand with their bare hands to try to save the victim. They were able to free his head from the sand.

When the firefighters arrived at the scene, they found Pye unconscious. The paramedics were able to open his airways while the firefighters worked to free his body from the sand. The authorities were able to extract Pye from the sand about 35 minutes after the incident happened. They tried their best to revive him, but he died at the scene. The cause of his death was suffocation while being trapped in a sand hole.

Calif. man dies after beach hole collapses: http://t.co/SOIardIr6A pic.twitter.com/4nixU5AqKa

— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) July 23, 2014

Cal Fire Captain Jonathan Cox who was present at the scene said, “It is one of those situations that can go from having a good time on the beach with friends and family to extremely dangerous and critical within seconds.”

George Frey, one of the witnesses who was on a vacation with his family, said that the more the group of people dug, the more the sand kept rushing back to the sand tunnel.

Cox said that sand is a difficult substance to work with. “It took a really concerted effort to pull the sand back, and there was a really overwhelming number of people—in a good way—who were digging to get him out.”

In a statement, firefighters took the opportunity to warn beachgoers of the “hidden dangers associated with the beach.” “Remember to stay away from cliffs, use caution when swimming in big surf and refrain from digging too deeply in the sand,” they said.

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