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SNOW CANYON — A teenage girl was flown to the hospital after she was buried in sand and stopped breathing.
The 15-year-old girl from Santa Clara and her three younger siblings were playing at the sand dunes in Snow Canyon State Park Friday afternoon, digging in the sand. They had been playing in and out of a hole they had dug, which was about 4 feet deep.
When the party walked back to the parking lot from the dunes, they realized she was not with them. They returned to where they had been playing and saw the hole had caved in, and a tuft of hair sticking out from the sand.
They immediately began digging, but had trouble locating the 15-year-old. When they found her, she was not breathing and they could not find a pulse.
"She was limp, and already looked very white," said witness Shannon Jensen. "So she was in there for a few minutes as they were trying to dig her out."
Adults on the scene performed CPR on the girl for 15 minutes before paramedics arrived and continued performing resuscitative breathing for about 20 minutes until Life Flight arrived.
She was flown to Dixie Regional Medical Center, where they were able to regain a pulse. She was then transferred to Primary Children's Medical Center in critical condition.
Detectives were called to the scene and interviewed witnesses and family members, but Shauna Jones, chief deputy with Washington County Sheriff's Offices said the case is being investigated as an accident at this point.
"It is a tragedy," Jones said. "...We hope the family is going to be OK."
There is no updated information about her condition.
Snow Canyon State Park is a 7,400-acre desert park near Ivins, Washington County.
Contributing: Jared Page
