A seven-year-old girl died after she and her nine-year-old brother were buried alive in a sand hole they had been digging on a beach in Florida.

The children had been playing on a beach in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea when they became trapped in the sand as it collapsed on them, according to CBS.

Authorities said that the children became trapped at around 3pm on Tuesday (20 February), and that witnesses said the hole was around five to six feet deep when the sand collapsed.