NZ boy dies after sand hole collapses A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy has died at a New Zealand beach after a hole in the sand collapsed on him and suffocated him. The accident happened at Pataua South Beach, near Whangarei in Northland, on Sunday afternoon. The boy had poked his head into a hole in the sand and the sand collapsed around him, pinning him in, St John northern communications shift manager Tony Devanney told AAP. He was pulled out of the hole but could not be revived. It was not clear how long the boy was stuck in the hole, he said. Mr Devanney said it did not appear the hole was all that big.