An 11-year-old boy tragically died after the massive sandcastle he built with a friend collapsed on top of him.
The unidentified youth had been digging on the beach in the Maule region of Chile, with a friend of the same age, on Saturday, August 27.
The two schoolboys lived locally and had gone to play without their parents.
The children built a huge sandcastle and then one tried to tunnel underneath it according to information provided by the Emergencies and Civil Protection of the municipality of Pelluhue.
As the tunnel got deeper and deeper, the youngster decided to crawl inside and scrape away at the sand.
It was then the entire sandcastle collapsed on top of him.
The parents of the boy were called and rushed to the scene to try and save their child as emergency services were also alerted.
They eventually removed the boy from under the sand and he was taken to hospital where they tragically declared him dead on arrival.
The head of the emergencies unit Nelson Gutierrez confirmed: "As a result of an accident on Peuno beach, an 11-year-old minor who was playing with another child of the same age was killed."
The authorities indicated that the victim was in the sixth grade of elementary school and lived locally.
When his death was announced, Lieutenant Felipe Sepulveda, from the Chanco police station, urged more care on the beach.
He said: "Adults and parents should be present when all kinds of activities are carried out by minors, in order to avoid and prevent all kinds of accidents."
The Cauquenes Criminal Investigation Brigade is investigating the tragedy.
