COPENHAGEN: Danish authorities warned Monday of dune landslides along the country's coasts following heavy rains after two German boys were buried in sand at the weekend and taken to hospital.

The boys aged nine and 12 were digging a hole in a dune on a beach in North Jutland on Sunday when the dune collapsed, burying them.

Media reports said the boys, who were on holiday with their families, were trapped under the sand for up to 40 minutes while people on the beach tried to dig them out.

They were airlifted to hospital and in a critical condition, police said in a statement late on Sunday.

In a separate incident on Sunday, another young boy got caught in a dune landslide in southwestern Jutland, but he was pulled out quickly and unharmed.

"We urge you to exercise caution around the dune areas, following yesterday's landslides on the west coast," the North Jutland emergency services wrote on X on Monday.

They urged people to stick to designated paths, supervise their children closely, not climb steep dunes and not dig holes in the dunes.

Authorities in southwestern Jutland said recent heavy rains had made the sand dunes unstable.

 - AFP