One diver has died and another remains missing after a large section of cliff collapsed into the sea at Biarritz on France’s Atlantic coast on the evening of 24 June.
According to French authorities, three local divers happened to be in the sea at the base of the cliff when approximately 2,000 cubic metres of rock – equivalent to around 5,000 tonnes – collapsed at around 8.20pm.
One of the three escaped the collapse without physical injury but had to be treated for shock by emergency services. The body of a 33-year-old woman was recovered later that evening, while specialist rescue divers continued to search for a 34-year-old man yesterday.
Search operations resumed today (26 June) under the supervision of the BRGM (France’s geological survey) because of the continuing risk of rock-slides.
As engineers assess the stability of the remaining cliff, a 300m safety exclusion zone has been established offshore and along the shoreline for swimmers, boaters and the public.
Below the lighthouse
The collapse occurred below the Pointe St-Martin lighthouse near Miramar Beach, a site the divers could have accessed from shore.
The victims have not been identified and, although described as “plongeurs’ (divers), they were not specified as either scuba-divers or freedivers.
Biarritz has an established recreational scuba-diving community, though the location is not noted as a specific dive-site. Commercial dive operators mainly take divers by boat to deeper offshore reef and wreck sites.
Around Pointe St-Martin the shoreline drops over rock ledges rather than a vertical wall, with depths close to shore thought to range from a few metres to 10-15m.
The incident occurred during a period of exceptionally hot weather in south-western France, though the heatwave has not been directly linked to the rockfall. Previous collapses occurred in the same area in 2008 and again eight years ago, but the most recent in June 2018 followed a period of heavy rainfall rather than hot weather.
Rockfall hazards are a recognised issue along parts of the Biarritz coastline, with some areas already subject to access restrictions.
