Collapsing California cliff claims 3 lives along beach
ENCINITAS, Calif. (AP) — A popular surfing beach was closed Saturday after a cliff collapsed, sending tons of sandstone onto beachgoers and killing three people.
A 30-foot-long slab of the cliff plunged onto the sand near Grandview Beach north of San Diego. A KNSD-TV helicopter captured footage of beach chairs, towels, surf boards and beach toys strewn about the sand.
Other beachgoers and lifeguards at a nearby tower scrambled to the towering pile of debris, which was estimated to weigh tens of thousands of pounds, to help dig out victims.
“I saw first responders, and I saw lifeguards frantically digging people out of the debris,” Jim Pepperdine, who lives nearby, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Pepperdine said he saw people trying to resuscitate a woman before her body was covered.
- Three people have been killed and at least two others injured after a cliff collapsed just feet away from a lifeguard tower in California on Friday
- A female victim, who hasn’t been named, was pronounced dead at the scene
- Two other victims were airlifted to hospital in a critical condition but later died
- First responders, including lifeguards, raced towards the wreck and began digging victims out from beneath the rubble
- According to a San Diego PD lieutenant a 30-foot-by-25-foot section of rock separated from the cliffside and crashed to the beach below
Three people have been killed and at least two others injured after a cliff collapsed just feet away from a lifeguard tower in California on Friday, authorities have said.
The tragic incident occurred around 2:55pm local time on Grandview Beach in Encinitas, just north of San Diego.
First responders, including lifeguards, raced towards the wreck and began digging victims out from beneath the rubble.
A female victim, who has not yet been named, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other victims were airlifted to hospital in a critical condition but later died, officials revealed early Saturday morning.
One other victim was transported to hospital in an ambulance to be treated for a series of minor injuries.
‘It has now been confirmed that two of the three victims that were transported to local area hospitals earlier today have succumbed to their injuries,’ a statement from the city read.