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June 20, 2007

Sharks and waves aren't the only danger

ATLANTA -- Waves and sharks aren't the only dangers at the beach.

A father-and-son team of doctors reports more than two dozen young people have been killed over the last decade when sand holes collapsed on them.

They found that since 1985, at least 20 children and young adults in the United States have died in beach or backyard sand submersions. And at least eight others died in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

That's according to a letter from the doctors published in this week's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Among the victims was Matthew Gauruder, who died from a collapse at an after-prom beach party in Westerly six years ago. The 17-year-old was playing football with friends when he fell backward into an eight-foot-deep hole someone had dug earlier.

Gauruder, of Manchester, Conn., was a senior at Rockville High School in Vernon, Conn.

-- The Associated Press, with Journal archival reports.

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:30 PM | Permalink

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