Sinking feeling on our beaches
BEACHES have been turned into quicksand deathtraps following weeks of storms.
Storm tides and coastal streams caused by Storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge have created liquefied patches on the nation’s sands.
Runner Stephen Callaghan became stuck after getting caught in quicksand while exercising in Newquay, Cornwall. He said: “I was running on Porth beach and got stuck up to my waist in quicksand.
“It is where work is being carried out on the beach but all the fencing has been washed away.
“I couldn’t get my legs out. Luckily I managed to get myself free.
“There are lots of people on the beach. I fear a dog will go in and get stuck and then the owner will go in after it.
Rescued
“An elderly person wouldn’t be able to get out,” he added.
Last month a mum and her young daughter also had to be rescued when they became trapped in Minehead, Somerset.
The mum had been out walking her dog when she got stuck waist deep in the muddy sand with her five-year-old in her arms before she was helicoptered to freedom. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency warns: “Our advice is: Stay calm, spread your weight and avoid moving.
“Anybody trapped should tell well-meaning members of the public not to rescue them because without the proper equipment they could become stuck too.”
The phenomenon has also been seen in Sweden where a woman in Trelleborg, in the far southern part of the country, became stuck up to her hips in quicksand on the beach this year.
A horserider saw liquid sand rise up to her stirrups and she and her horse crawled to safety.