A 20-year-old exchange student from Korea died after lying down in a 6ft-deep sandpit on a Californian beach when it collapsed on him.

Students from Masters College dug the pit while spending the day at Oxnard Beach Park in southern California yesterday and the man became buried after climbing into it.

Firefighters arrived and immediately began digging with tools and hands, but it took 15 minutes to free him.

Emergency resuscitation was performed on the man as he was taken to Ventura County Medical Centre, but he was declared dead at the hospital.

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