World Scene: United States

Jun 21, 07:05 PM

Current Headlines: Sand more deadly than sharks

Waves and sharks aren't the only dangers at the beach. More than two dozen young people have been killed over the last decade when sand holes collapsed on them, report father-and-son doctors who have made warning of the risk their personal campaign.

Since 1985, at least 20 children and young adults in the United States have died in beach or backyard sand hole collapses. And at least eight others died in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, according to a letter from doctors Bradley and Barron Maron published in this week's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Sand hole collapses occur horrifyingly fast, said Dr Bradley Maron of Harvard Medical School, the report's lead author.

(c) 2007 China Daily; North American ed.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.