BOY BURIED IN SAND AT NGUNGURU

Northern Advocate, 10 January 1938, Page 2

BOY BURIED IN SAND AT NGUNGURU

Buried under one to two tons of sand, a boy aged 13. son of Mr and Mrs Edgar Wood, of Whangarei. had a narrow escape from death on Thursday last. The lad was spending a holiday at Ngunguru, and with two companions I'f about the same age. was engaged in constructing a tunnel through a sand-dune on the ocean beach.

Armed with spades they had tunnelled a full 12 feet into the side of the treacherous sand face, which was liable to collapse at anv moment, the surface being covered only with coarse grass.

The boys had been absent for some tin. 1 and ••n elder brother. Desmond Wood, decided to row across the river in hi;' boat to see what the lads were doing. lie had just put his head inside ♦he funnel when it collapsed. burying his brother. Fortunately the ofber two bo vs were driving a funnel from the opposite side to coracct, and they were not injured. The position looked serious, as the shovels were buried. Immediate efforts were made to extricate the buried. boy. and when it was found that little progress cculd be made. sDesmond Wood instructed the two boys to continue digging with their hands while he crossed the river for help. Speedily Extricated.

Mr W. Andrews, and a nurse from the south, rushed across in a boat: but by the time they arrived the oilier two hoys had managed to clear the head of the buried boy. He was speedily extricated. but by that time he was in a bad condition, his face being almost black, and he was verging on unconsciousness.

It is considered that the fact that Ihe bov was wearing a big hat saved him. He had to be massaged by the nurse for twenty minutes before he could be taken across the river. He was placed in bed, and medical advice obtained. Another five minutes under the

sand would probably have resulted in a tragedy. They Took a Risk.

The boys,had been warned by their parents of the danger of tunnel-dig-ging. but. like most boys, full of spirit#. Ihey look a risk which nearly ended disastrously. Some time ago some other boys nearly suffered a similar accident, though not of such a serious nature.

Mi’ Wood said today that the accident should serve as a warning to other parents to prevent; tunnelling in the sand-dunes. If the bov had been buried for any time, and if the other boy had not rowed across to see what they were doing, a different story might have been the result. Though suffering from shock, the rescued lad is making good progress.