Rescue: A Few Good Examples ...

... of doing this story well. First, this one:

Play fort-building with friends ended tragically yesterday at 4:40 p.m., after a tunnel four boys were digging suddenly collapsed and only three made it out alive. 

The victim has been identified as 11-year-old James Roger Lo after officers responded to a call at the west end of Liberty Avenue, located on the property of the Wagnor Development Corporation, according to an East Lansing Fire Department incident report. 

After the tunnel collapsed, witnesses at the scene said one boy ran for help while the others tried to free Lo from the dirt, according to the report. 

The report said when the fire department arrived on the scene there were approximately 20 adults trying to remove the boy with their hands and shovels.  The boy had been submerged for 12 minutes at this point, the report said. 

According to the report, the rescue was challenging as the walls of the tunnel continued to cave in with digging efforts.

 When Lo’s head was exposed from the dirt medics rushed to begin resuscitation efforts, however another collapse occurred before they were able to make any progress, the report said. 

The fire department was unable to use heavy equipment so as not to further injure the victim, the report said. 

The report said the body was recovered six feet from the opening of the tunnel at 5:24 p.m. and was taken to the Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead from an extensive lack of oxygen. 

Neighbors and witnesses were angry and said they had expressed to the property owner many times that the area was dangerous and needed a fence around the pond  so the neighborhood children could not have access to the land, according to the report. 

The report said the homeowner should be contacted as they may file a claim or have to be compensated for fence repairs. 

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Next up is this one: 

An 11-year-old East Lansing boy died yesterday evening after a tunnel he was digging with his friends collapsed on him.

James Roger Lo, a student at Lincoln Elementary School, and three of his friends were digging into the side of a hill near the pond on the west end of Liberty Avenue when, at 4:40 p.m., the tunnel collapsed, according to an incident report filed by Lt. Steven Chenn.

Also according to the report, the East Lansing Fire Department arrived onto the scene at 4:52 p.m., with some 20 adults already there, digging with their hands and a few shovels.

The bystanders expressed their anger at the property owner, Wagnor Development Corporation, for inaction on various warnings that the pond area was a popular but dangerous play area for children, according to the report.

Firefighters took over the work and manage to expose the boy’s head within ten minutes, but another collapse prevented medics from initiating resuscitation, the report said.

Heavy equipment was ruled out, as firefighters had to be careful not to further injure Lo, according to the report.

To expedite the rescue, the report said, firefighters tore sections from a fence at a nearby residence and used it as makeshift shoring to hold back the continually-collapsing dirt.

Lo was freed at 5:24 p.m., taken to East Lansing Regional Medical Center, and pronounced dead there from extensive lack of oxygen, the report said.