aww man this is awful after watching a naruto episodes some kids thought they were being smart by reacting gaaras attack the sand burial and kill their friend in a sand box

A family is in mourning after an accident in a playground left their 10-year-old dead.

The titular character from the popular anime Naruto.

Codey Porter of Everett, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, died on Saturday after friends buried him in a sandbox, according to The Seattle Post Intelligencer. The boys were apparently imitating the popular anime show Naruto.

The children were allegedly reenacting one of the show's character's special attacks, where the target is enveloped in sand. Though the boy thrashed around when he couldn't breathe, his friends apparently thought he was joking and didn't pull him out until damage had already been done. He died later in a hospital, surrounded by his family.

Though the incident seems like a perfect lightning rod for watchdog groups to curse Naruto and call for its end, the general consensus is the death is simply the result of a tragic accident.

Naruto is a wildly popular cartoon imported from Japan that follows young ninjas. It currently airs on the Cartoon Network.

[UPDATE] Video news report on the matter is here. i found this on tv.com