13-year-old dies in dunes accident

A 13-year-old boy was killed Friday evening in an informal sand drags event at the Dune Buggy Flats area of the Imperial Sand Dunes.

According to Troy Bolen, special agent in charge with the Bureau of Land Management, the youth was riding a small quad across the starting area of the drags when the driver of a sand rail that was starting its run down the lane "ran over the quad and the child."

Sand drags are unsponsored events that regularly take place every major weekend in that area, said Bolen.

"It's basically a bunch of people getting together to go out in the sand and drive fast in their vehicles," he said.

But because these events are not controlled or authorized by an entity, nobody controls the traffic flow, he added.

Bolen said no speeding regulations exist in that area of the dunes to prevent sand drags from taking place.

The boy was pronounced dead at the scene before the requested life flight arrived, Bolen said.

The Imperial County Sheriff's Office coroner arrived, and the California Highway Patrol is conducting an investigation into the accident.