Boy rescued after being buried under sand for hours at Indiana park

Julie McClure / Michigan City News Dispatch

Two private excavation companies with heavy equipment joined the rescue effort in Michigan City, Ind.

By M. Alex Johnson and Christopher Nelson, NBC News

Rescue teams and private excavation crews dug for more than three hours Friday before rescuing a young boy buried in a deep hole in a sand dune at a national park in Indiana, authorities said.

Michigan City Fire Chief Ronnie Martin told NBC News the boy was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Chicago. His identity wasn't immediately released.

The boy's condition wasn't released, but Ranger Bruce Rowe, a spokesman for the National Park Service, said, "I'm told that he does have vital signs."

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Many details remained unclear. A La Porte County, Ind., coroner's official initially indicated that the hole was more than 30 feet deep, but at a briefing for reporters late Friday, Rowe said the boy was found under 11 feet of sand in a dune. The boy's age was initially reported as 8 before the park service clarified that he is 6 years old. And Rowe said it was still unknown why he was on a dune in a restoration area of the park away from the public.

Rescue crews were called to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, on the Lake Michigan shore in Michigan City, shortly at 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. ET), Rowe said. The boy was found at 8:05 p.m. (9:05 p.m. ET), he said.

The boy's family saw him in the hole near Mount Baldy, as it collapsed and tried to pull him out, Rowe said. They failed and called 911.?

Two private excavating companies with heavy equipment joined local police and rescue crews, La Porte County emergency workers, Northern Indiana Public Service Co. workers and National Park Service officers in working to dig out the boy.

"This has not happened before, and we will certainly not let people on the dune until it is safe," Rowe said.

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This story was originally published on Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:01 PM EDT

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