Boy dies in beach tunnel collapse

LONDON (Reuters) - A teenager died when a tunnel collapsed on him while he was digging on a beach during a family holiday in south Wales, a coastguard spokesman said on Monday.

The 15-year-old was playing with a group of children on a beach near the town of Burry Port, Carmarthenshire, when the accident happened on Sunday.

Swansea Coastguard said its rescue team was joined by police, fire crews and paramedics in a "desperate" attempt to pull the boy from the sand.

He was dug out of the collapsed tunnel and flown by air ambulance to Morriston Hospital in Swansea where he was pronounced dead by doctors.

"Our sympathy goes out to the family following this tragic death," said Dave Hughes, watch manager at Swansea Coastguard. "With school holidays in full swing we want to warn families to be aware of the dangers of tunnelling in sand.

"Wet sand as we have had today after rain makes it easier for tunnelling, but sand is always very unstable and heavy and can collapse at any time."

The victim, from Wrexham, north Wales, has not been named. He was on holiday with family and friends and had been playing with about 15 other children in the dunes.

Burry Port's beach is a popular tourist attraction, famous as the place where American aviator Amelia Earhart landed in 1928 to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic by plane.

(Reporting by Peter Griffiths; editing by Kate Kelland)