Young Boy Killed in Sand Truck

AZLE -- A 12-year-old boy died Friday after he was pulled to the bottom of a load of sand while he and his younger brother played in the back of a sand truck.

Edwin Gomez and his 8-year-old brother were with a relative at a house in the 100 block of Coronado Bend Drive about 1 p.m. where an American Gunite Co. crew was installing an in-ground residential swimming pool, according to authorities.

Both children climbed into the back of the truck to play in the sand while the truck was under operation, a news release from the Parker County Sheriff’s Department said. A device on the truck was pumping the sand to the job site while the children were playing in the truck, said Larry Fowler, Parker County Sheriff.

Both children were caught in the undertow from the device, Fowler said. The 8-year-old told investigators that he and Gomez had been playing for a few minutes before his brother was buried under the sand.

Workers said they noticed that the hose that pumped the sand mixture to the site had clogged and they shut the mixer off before they went to investigate, the news release said. One worker who found the 8-year-old buried up to his waist in sand asked what he was doing and where was his brother. The 8-year-old boy pointed to the back of the truck where Gomez was buried.

Workers said they immediately grabbed shovels to dig the boys out and called emergency responders. The workers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Gomez until emergency medical personnel arrived, the news release said.

The siblings were taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth. Gomez was pronounced dead about 2:15 p.m., according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office. The 8-year-old suffered a broken leg, the news release said.