Lauderdale-by-the-Sea mayor responds to questions death of child who was trapped in sand hole

LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA, Fla. – Three days have passed since the death of a little girl who became trapped in a sand hole on the beach in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

On Friday night, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Mayor Chris Vincent spoke to Local 10 News about what happened.

Vincent said unlike neighboring Fort Lauderdale, Lauderdale-by-the Sea does not have an ordinance banning sand holes on the beach.

“No, we don’t have an ordinance on record right now for that,” he told Local 10′s Christian De La Rosa. “If it’s something that the community wants and the town wants, I’m all in favor for it.”

City officials have been questioned over the past several days for not having lifeguards along its beaches.

“We’ve had many conversations about that in the past, and we’re not the only beaches that currently don’t have lifeguards,” Vincent said.

Seven-year-old Sloan Mattingly was with her 9-year-old brother Maddox playing in a sand hole when it collapsed on both of them on Tuesday afternoon.

The boy was saved after being buried up to his chest.

Sloan Mattingly was under the sand for over 15 minutes before being pulled out and rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

“Immense sadness for the family, somewhat of frustration because this is preventable,” said Tom Gill with the United States Lifesaving Association. “More times than not, 99 out of 100 and probably higher than that percentage, lifeguards would have done something to prevent this from happening.”