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| Sinkhole image (source) |
A 6-year-old boy remained in critical condition Saturday after he had been buried under 11 feet of sand for more than three hours at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, officials said.
The boy from Sterling, Ill., whose identity has not been released, had become trapped Friday afternoon in what appeared to be a sinkhole on the northern slopes of Mount Baldy, a well-known and highly popular landmark at the eastern edge of the park.
The boy was found three or four feet beyond a rope that was cordoning off a section of the dune where grass and other plants were being replaced, park spokesman Bruce Rowe said Saturday.
He may have been able to survive for so long because of an air pocket that formed as the sand collapsed around him, Rowe said.
“I don’t know if (officials) physically saw an air pocket, but that’s what we’re all presuming there had to be for him to be alive,” Rowe said.
In a rescue effort that involved more than 30 people, the boy was finally pulled out by a firefighter after his whereabouts were detected with the help of an excavator, officials said.
Officials were still investigating the cause of the accident, which Rowe said has many veteran park workers baffled.
“I've been here since 1991 and have never heard of anything like this,” Rowe said. “None of the staff from the park or the surrounding agencies have heard about anything like this.”
The child was being treated Saturday at University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital.
He was listed in critical condition, but was able to respond to simple commands and appeared to be reacting well to a ventilator, said hospital spokeswoman Lorna Wong.
“His parents want to extend their deepest thanks to the Michigan City fire and police departments and all the authorities, private companies and individuals who contributed to the rescue effort,” Wong said, in a statement. “They also ask that people include this little boy in their prayers.”
Because of the accident, the area around Mount Baldy will be closed off from beachgoers until at least Monday morning, Rowe said.
Still, that didn’t deter dozens of families on Saturday from enjoying the day’s sunshine and warmth at nearby Central Beach. A handful of children ran up and down the dunes there, floated on inner tubes on Lake Michigan and sculptured detailed sandcastles.
Some parents expressed worry about potential hazards, while others said they would simply be more cautious.
“It's pretty safe. You just have to keep an eye on your kids, like anywhere else,” said Sharina Eichhorn, whose daughters, aged 2 and 5, played in the sand nearby.
Eichhorn said seeing the incident on the news in her camper didn't keep her and her husband from making the two-hour drive to the dunes from their Carmel, Ind., home for the weekend.
Amber Comer, of Valparaiso, Ind., said her two kids normally love running up and down or rolling down the sand dunes on the lakeside, which they visit about once a week in the summer.
However, Comer — who has no affiliation with the children’s hospital — kept her children away from the massive sand banks on Saturday.
“We’re definitely staying off the sand dunes today, just in case,” Comer said, as her children splashed in the lake or played with toys in the sand near their mother.
“It’s definitely a very scary thought, as a mom,” added Stephanie Garr, a relative of Comer’s who also steered her two children away from the dunes.
Normally, climbing the soft, white hills is “one of the biggest things they like to do when they come to the beach, besides the water,” Garr said.
Source: Chicago Tribune
