Witness Recounts Moment Teen Was Rescued From 6-Foot Sand Hole at California Beach

A good Samaritan helped in the rescue of a teen who was stuck in a 6-foot-deep sand hole at a California beach by digging with his bare hands.

Witnesses say the 16-year-old was digging in the sand with friends when she fell into the large hole and could not get out. Rescuers worried the hole would be underwater with high tide coming in.

Good Samaritan Richard Mestan, a former lifeguard, also helped with the rescue by digging with his hands.

"Her head level was six feet down, that's where her head started. So her body is underneath that," Mestan tells Inside Edition, "Unable to move."

Around 20 firefighters and lifeguards dug in the sand at Mission Beach in San Diego.

After 30 minutes the teen was found and safe.

"I just saw her going up the hole and they got her out and everybody was clapping and cheering," Mestan says.

The incident is reminiscent of a beach horror in February that claimed the life of a 7-year-old girl.

Sloan Mattingly was with her 9-year-old brother Maddox when the five-foot hole they had dug collapsed on top of them. Maddox was pulled out alive. Sloan was suffocated by the sand.

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