Two students killed after hand-dug hole collapsed in Florida park
Two teens killed in freak ‘sugar sand’ accident at park
- Two 14-year-old best friends, George Watts and Derrick Hubbard, died after a hole they had been digging for two weeks collapsed on them at a Florida park.
- The tragedy struck last Saturday when the boys were inside the four- to five-feet-deep tunnel they dug in “sugar sand,” a common soil type in Florida.
- It took first responders half an hour to extricate them and despite their best efforts, Derrick Hubbard died at the park. George Watts was rushed to hospital in critical condition and later taken off life support.
- Watts' mother said he is an organ donor and described the boys' bond as “beyond friendship,” writing, “They were inseparable, full of life, curiosity, and dreams for the future.”
- The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office and Inverness Middle School, where the boys were students, expressed deep sadness, with a GoFundMe page set up to support both families.