Overview

• Riccardo Boni suffocated on July 10 when the walls of a roughly 1.5 metre-deep tunnel he dug at Montalto di Castro beach in northwest Italy suddenly collapsed
• His father, local swimmers and lifeguards spent about 40 minutes digging by hand before emergency services arrived and pronounced him dead
• Mayor Emanuela Socciarelli suspended all public events on July 11 and extended sincere condolences to the grieving family
• The Civitavecchia Prosecutor’s Office took control of the body on July 12, opened a case “against persons unknown” and is weighing whether to order an autopsy
• Experts warn that dry-sand tunnels can give way without warning and block oxygen within minutes, advising holes be no deeper than the knee of the youngest person present