Sand more dangerous than sharks

People naturally worry about splashier threats, like shark attacks. However, the Marons’ research found there were 16 sand hole or tunnel deaths in the U.S. from 1990-2006 compared with 12 fatal shark attacks for the same period, according to University of Florida statistics.

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 submersions. And at least eight others died in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, according to a letter from the doctors published in this week’s issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
News Article