Italy: Boy dead after being buried alive in family beach holiday tragedy

A teenage boy has died after a hole he dug on a beach suddenly collapsed in on him, burying him alive.

Riccardo, 17, was on holiday with his family enjoying the popular Montalto di Castro beach in Italy on July 10 when the tragedy unfolded.

While his father was taking a nap, Riccardo was playing with his two younger siblings and began to dig a 1.5m deep hole in the sand.

The two younger children left Riccardo while he was still digging the hole.

The alarm was then raised at around 3pm, when Riccardo’s family realised he was missing.

His father and other holiday-makers and lifeguards began frantically digging in an attempt to save the boy.

Police and paramedics assisted in pulling the boy out of the sand, but tragically he was pronounced dead at the scene.

An eyewitness told the Daily Mail the boy had “built a tunnel” and “wanted to enter from one side and exit from the other”.

“But as he passed through, when he reached the centre, everything collapsed and the hole was completely covered.

“You couldn’t see anything anymore; you could have walked right through it and not noticed a thing.”

The local mayor Emanuela Socciarelli told reporters, that this is a “tragedy that has left us all shocked”.

“It’s unthinkable that a young man could lose his life in this way. I want to offer my sincere condolences to this family, to whom we are all truly deeply connected,” she said.

All public events on Montalto di Castro beach scheduled for today have been suspended.

Riccardo’s body is now under the control of the Civitavecchia Prosecutor’s Office for further examination.