Dixfield – An 11-year-old boy died Monday night when a sand pile collapsed on him in a trench he had dug playing in his backyard.

“It’s a very tragic accident,” said police Chief Richard Pickett.

The incident remains under investigation, said Pickett, but his preliminary findings show the boy was in his backyard playing in the sand pile. He dug a trench that was apparently deep enough that when the sand collapsed he wasn’t able to get himself free, Pickett said.

The boy’s father and sister had left the boy playing while they went down the street for a few minutes. His grandmother lives next door. When they returned and couldn’t find him in the house they started searching for him, and finally located him in the sand pile.

His father tried life-saving techniques until Officer Jeffrey Radcliff arrived.

Officer Dean Benson of the Mexico police department also arrived on the scene and assisted with CPR.

Medics from MedCare ambulance service continued the effort to revive the boy while taking him to Rumford Hospital. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 8:24 p.m.

“It was a very valiant effort by everyone involved,” Pickett said of the rescue attempt.

Pickett wasn’t releasing the boy’s name until he had clearance to do so by the State Medical Examiner’s Office, he said..000