Overview

• The 17-year-old, Riccardo B., was on holiday with his family when the 1.5-meter tunnel he dug at Montalto di Castro beach collapsed, trapping him under sand.
• His father, local swimmers, lifeguards, police and an air ambulance crew dug urgently to rescue him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
• Mayor Emanuela Socciarelli suspended all public events on July 11 and offered official condolences to the grieving family.
• Witnesses described how collapsing sand forms an oxygen-tight mass that can suffocate buried individuals within minutes.
• Experts and a Harvard University study warn that digging deeper than knee height in dry sand poses a lethal risk of sudden collapse.