Nöbetçi Eczaneler
By Mark ‘Crowley’ Russell
One diver has been killed and another remains missing after the collapse of a large section of cliff near Biarritz lighthouse in southwest France.
According to local reports, three divers were at the base of the cliff, close to Miramar Beach, when the collapse happened at around 8.20 pm on Wednesday, 24 June.
One diver escaped ‘physically unharmed but deeply shaken’, according to local authorities. The body of a 35-year-old woman was recovered from the water at about 10.30 pm.
A search for the third diver, believed to be a man in his 30s, was suspended at 11.45 pm due to darkness and difficult conditions, but resumed on Thursday morning. As of the time of writing, the missing diver has not been found.
The operation has so far involved firefighters, specialist divers and rescue teams, assisted by a police helicopter and drone.
‘We heard a loud bang and saw the whole section of the cliff slide and collapse into the water,’ a witness told regional newspaper Sud Ouest. ‘One guy got out and said there were two people around him,’ adding that there were a lot of people swimming along the cliff at the time.
‘The noise was truly impressive, deafening,’ another witness told Agence France-Presse (AFP). ‘We were quite scared because we saw a whole section of the cliff collapse under the lighthouse, and it created a really impressive spray of water.’
The witness, who said he is a regular visitor, said there had been no warning signs of a potential collapse, and said that the section of the cliff that fell was right under the lighthouse. ‘You can only get there by swimming or with a [paddleboard],’ he said.
The beaches around the lighthouse remain closed, with Biarritz mayor Serge Blanco issuing an order banning public access, swimming and boating within a 300-metre (985ft) radius of the base of the cliff because of the risk of further collapse.
The names of the divers have not yet been released, and no cause for the collapse has been established at this early stage, although French media have noted that other rockfalls had occurred in the area in 2018 and 2008.
The post One diver dies, another missing, following Biarritz cliff collapse appeared first on DIVE Magazine.
