The search for two tapped kids buried alive has ended, unfortunately in tragedy. The two children, 6-year-old Chloe Arwood and 7-year-old James Caldwell were found dead at the bottom of a 24-foot construction pit Monday morning outside the family's Denver, North Carolina home.
Authorities report that the two cousins ran into the pit on Sunday to chase after a runaway toy when thousands of pounds of dirt collapsed on top of them. Rescuers searched for more than 12 hours to try and save the children, but the efforts of the roughly 75 rescue workers proved unsuccessful.
"That situation has now come to a close," said Dion Burleson of Lincoln Co., North Carolina Emergency Management. "The two young children's bodies have been recovered from the pit in which they were at."
Caldwell's father, who was working at the mentioned construction site, called police, who immediately responded with rescue teams. The pit marked what is to become a new basement or protective bunker.
"Specifically, here in the Southeast, our soil has a lot of clay composition to it," Burleson said. "This dirt is exceptionally heavy because of the density that it has."
Family and neighbors were distraught, as there was little they could do to prevent the freak accident. Some believe, however, that the partents could have monitored the playing children more closesly, especially near a construction site.
"It's actually really hard because you don't see stuff like this happen really, it's happening right outside your front door," neighbor Chelsea Jones told WSOC-TV.
Life truly is unfair. Two young, innocent lives were stripped and taken away, and for what? For chasing a small toy that had fallen into a construction pit? It truly is a tragic day.
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