Student Dies In Sand Pit: Should Mingyu Sang Have Known Better?

The victim was identified as foreign exchange student Mingyu Sang, who moved to the United States from South Korea five years ago.

Sang had dug a sand pit with his friends Wednesday, but it collapsed on him. He was rushed to Ventura County Medical Center but succumbed to his injuries.

According to witnesses who spoke to NBC4, the sand pit was about six feet deep.

After the victim and his friends has finished digging the sand pit with their hands and tools, which took about 15 minutes, Sang climbed into it to take a picture, fire-rescue officials said.

"It's a well-populated beach, but there was nobody there to make contact with these individuals about digging deep and how dangerous it is," said Oxnard Fire Department Battalion Chief Darwin Base.

Sang was staying with a family in the Stevenson Ranch area, MSNBC reported.

The Master's College posted the following statement on its website Thursday morning:

"Students from The Master's College were participating in a recreational trip to the beach on Wednesday afternoon. At approximately 4:50 p.m., one of our students was involved in an accident. The student had been digging in the sand when he became trapped. The Ventura County fire department was called. The student was rescued and transported to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

"The college is focused at this time on caring for the student's immediate family, his local church family, and our student body. We have confidence through the student's testimony that his trust was in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and we take comfort in knowing that he is with the Lord. It is our prayer that our God will provide comfort to all those who are grieving at this time."

The Master's College is located in Santa Clarita, northwest of Los Angeles. 

Should the family Sang was staying with have warned him about the dangers of playing in the sand?