Biarritz cliff collapse kills one diver, search for missing man suspended over instability

A massive rockfall at the foot of the Biarritz lighthouse on Wednesday 24 June killed one diver and left another missing, while a third escaped unharmed. The collapse has shaken the Atlantic resort town and triggered a multi‑day search and recovery operation.

The collapse

Around 8:20 p.m. on Wednesday, an estimated 2,000 cubic metres of rock broke away from the cliff at Cap Saint‑Martin, directly below the Biarritz lighthouse. Three people were spearfishing in the water at the time. One man managed to get away with no physical injuries but was treated for severe shock. The other two, a local couple described by the mayor as a “young, lively couple living their love,” were buried by the rock and the wave it created.

“It is a real trauma for this Basque seaside town.”

Firefighters recovered the woman’s body just before the search was suspended around 10:45 p.m. on Wednesday. A flipper and a harpoon belonging to her were also found. The search for her partner resumed early Thursday morning with 12 specialist divers, an aerial drone and a jet ski.

Search suspended over fresh instability

By Thursday morning cracks and small rockfalls were still occurring at the collapse site. Bernard Leugé, the commander of the Pyrénées‑Atlantiques fire and rescue service, said rescuers had decided to pull divers back to about 100 metres from the cliff face so as not to put anyone at risk. Around 5 p.m., he announced the halt of the diver‑based search.

“The searches we carried out this morning were unsuccessful. We have done everything we could with the divers without putting them in danger. We are not finding the body. The decision has been made to stop the search.”

Underwater drones from the same service took over to explore the most hazardous area. Leugé said it was not yet known whether the missing man was trapped beneath the fallen rocks or had been carried away by currents.

Witnesses and the heatwave

At the time of the collapse the neighbouring Miramar beach was packed, witnesses said, as temperatures in Biarritz exceeded 40 °C. Vincent Pariset, 45, was paddleboarding with his daughter when he heard a “very dull noise, like a thunderclap.” He turned and saw the rock fall into the sea, sending water shooting into the air and creating a large wave.

Marie Burkel, 32, was on the Miramar beach. She said she often sat at the spot where the rock fell to watch the sunset. “We would never have thought the cliff could collapse,” she told Agence France‑Presse.

Local response

Mayor Serge Blanco said flags in the city would be flown at half‑mast for two or three days. A municipal order had already banned access to the beach and swimming, he added, but acknowledged it was impossible to prevent everyone from approaching the cliffs. The cliff had previously seen rockfalls in 2008 and 2018.