At the least one diver has died after a cliff edge collapsed in a landslide and smashed onto a well-liked beach in southwest France.
Search is ongoing for a missing diver who was on the foot of the cliff near Miramar beach in Biarritz with two others when it collapsed.
Two of the divers were buried under several tonnes of rocks and falling debris when the landslide struck at about 8.20pm yesterday during a record heatwave tormenting France and western Europe.
The cliff, measuring around 2,000 cubic tonnes, suddenly fell into the Atlantic, leaving the divers only seconds to react.
One in every of the divers escaped unharmed, while the body of a girl was found hours later.
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One person continues to be missing and feared dead as search and rescue teams proceed to scoure the ocean.
Beachgoer Quentin Alberola told France Info: ‘There was a thunderous sound, like an explosion, you can say.
‘The whole lot collapsed, and a wave crashed onto the beach.’
The beach has been cordoned off and closed to the general public while the security of the remaining cliffs is assessed.
An eyewitness said the third diver emerged from the water in a state of shock, but otherwise unscathed.
Vincent Pariset, a receptionist who was within the water on a paddleboard together with his daughter, said the noise from the collapse was ‘deafening.’
He told news agency AFP: ‘We were quite scared because we saw an entire section of the cliff collapse under the lighthouse, and it created a very impressive spray of water.’
He said there have been no warning signs before the collapse.
The cliff surrounds the Phare de Biarritz, an iconic lighthouse in-built 1834 in the course of the city’s heyday as a serious summer resort frequented by European royalty.
Pyrénées-Atlantiques department officials said: ‘Avoid the affected area, which is strictly off-limits until further notice.
‘Don’t hinder rescue operations.’
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