“Student dies in sand pit” is not something you want to wake up to in the morning. There’s enough problems in the world today that we don’t need stories of young people with a future ahead of them dying due to an accident. Unfortunately, here we are with the somber news.

An unnamed 19-year-old Korean foreign exchange student was just having some fun with his pals at Oxnard Beach Park Wednesday afternoon. They apparently decided to start digging a sand pit because beaches are perfect for that sort of thing. Unfortunately, tragedy struck as the student was at the bottom of the reportedly six-foot deep sand pit when it collapsed in on him.

The student’s friends immediately called emergency services with firefighters arriving only four minutes after being called. Unfortunately, it took them about 15 minutes to dig through the six feet of sand to reach the young man who had been trapped. They attempted CPR on the scene and then transported him to the nearest hospital. He was pronounced dead soon after.

The worst thing about all this is that he was a foreign exchange student. Due to time zone differences, the boys parents were probably unaware of what had happened for a few hours. Our thoughts go out to the family.

This event is another example of what not to do at the beach. Sand is one of the most powerful forces of nature and can easily crush people if they’re not careful. It’s fine to dig small holes in the sand, but a six foot deep hole is way too much. Sand is far too unstable for such things.

[h/t: CBS LA]