The kids, who were nine and 12, were digging a hole in North Jutland’s Noerre Vorupoer beach on Sunday, when the dune collapsed and buried them
Two German boys have died after a beach landslide in Denmark.
The kids, who were nine and 12, were digging a hole in North Jutland’s Noerre Vorupoer beach on Sunday, when the dune collapsed and buried them. According to police and health authorities they died on Tuesday night, and called the incident a “tragic accident”.
The boys, from Munich, are thought to have been on holiday with their families before they became trapped under the sand for 40 minutes before they dug them out. On Sunday, another young lad was caught in a landslide in southwest Jutland. Thankfully, he was pulled out quickly and unharmed.
The Danish authorities have urged people to exercise caution in dune areas on the west coast, where heavy rains have made the sands unstable.
Back in 2023, holidaymakers were warned to stay away from a “sheer cliff” of sand due to a high risk of it collapsing two months after a child narrowly escaped with their life.
Lifeguards in Crantock, near Newquay, have said there is an “increased danger” of the huge dune at the beach collapsing , potentially trapping sun worshippers beneath it.
A 65ft-high dune collapsed after dry weather caused sand to shift at the popular beach, which had been eroded by surf gouging away at the base of the sand structures.
While the sand may appear light and moveable, if a large amount of it were to fall on top of a person, it would prove incredibly heavy and difficult to move.
Newquay’s RNLI lead lifeguard supervisor Lewis Timson said: “Sand is extremely heavy, and in the event of the dune collapsing, there is an increased danger of becoming buried with potentially life-threatening consequences.
“Despite the important, multi-agency training we have recently undertaken to rescue someone trapped under sand, we hope we do not face any incidents of this nature.
“Our focus is on ensuring people keep away from the sand dunes at Crantock.
“With the dry weather and surf of three to four foot expected the nature of the sand dune system is predicted to shift and remain unstable for the foreseeable future and risks collapse at any time.”
The warning came two months after a a child was seen ‘disappearing’ into a dangerous sand cave at the beach.
The incident happened on Good Friday when members of a beach patrol saw the child entering a hole in the sand, prompting them to rush over and convince the young beach goer to come out.
The sand “collapsed with very little effort” a short while afterwards, showing how fragile the dune structures at the beach are.