Boy Dies After Sand Tunnel Collapse at NJ Beach

Police say the boy who was rushed to the hospital Tuesday after a sand tunnel collapsed over him at a beach in Long Branch, N.J. has died.

Ezra Cornman, 12, who has not been identified, was not breathing when he was pulled out of the sand late Tuesday afternoon, officials said. Lifeguards administered CPR on him, and he was taken to Monmouth Medical Center where he was placed in pediatric intensive care unit.

Witnesses at the beach said blood was coming out of the boy's nose when lifeguards were working on him. 

"They were pumping him, pressing on his stomach, trying to bring him back," said a beachgoer from Staten Island. "They kept trying to revive him, pressing, pressing. There was blood coming out of his nose... He didn't move." 

Ezra was apparently digging a tunnel under the sand with his brother and  friends when it collapsed over him. Sources said the tunnel was deep, and the weight of all the sand on the boy's chest made it impossible for him to breathe.

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