FALMOUTH, Mass. (WHDH) — Child's play turned dangerous in Falmouth this weekend when a boy playing on a sand pile ended up trapped.
Falmouth fire officials say two 14-year-old boys were wandering around this sand and gravel business Saturday morning. While climbing on one of the tall man-made hills, one of the boys sank into the wet sand.
It was like quicksand- within seconds he was stuck, chest-deep in the cold mud.
Neighbors heard sirens, but weren't sure what was going on.
“I looked out my window and saw a couple police officers come down the street,” said Robert Fletcher.
For fire crews, this wasn't the typical rescue. They couldn't just pull him out, firefighters attached a rope and it took several men to free the teen.
The teenagers told authorities they were following some animal tracks, apparently looking for coyotes.
“There's a lot of coyotes around here, ‘cause we don’t let her go outside by herself because they're already around up there, we hear them all the time,” said Desiree Rose, a nearby resident.
“The most recent was three nights ago, I heard coyotes in the back,” said Fletcher.
The boys never found the coyotes. The teenager wasn't seriously hurt, but was taken to nearby Falmouth hospital to be checked out.
A morning of exploring turned into a battle with a sort-of quicksand- a valuable lesson learned the hard way.
“We used to do it when we were younger and the sand would cave in and stuff like that so I wouldn't go let my kids, but they go up there,” said Rose.