British Woman Killed In Landslide At Los Gigantes Beach In Tenerife
Reports are coming in of a landslide on Los Gigantes Los Guíos beach.
Several people are believed to be trapped and injured.
Two emergency helicopters are standing by at the helipad next to Playa de la Arena beach.
16.50h Emergency Services have recovered the lifeless bodies of two people who were buried under the soil and rocks, fears are that there may be more people trapped.
17.00h Unconfirmed reports say a part of a villa from the road above the beach has fallen into the hole caused by the slide.
17.55h RTVC televison confirms the rockslide occurred at 3.07pm today Sunday 1 November when rocks and soil fell from 50 metres above onto the Los Gigantes Los Guíos beach covering it to a depth of 5 metres in places. The beach was full of sunbathers enjoying the soaring temperatures.
The search continues for any further victims trapped.
18.20h. Authorities say that 150 people are desperately trying to rescue a further six victims believed to be still buried under tons of rubble.
19.00h A Spanish government Interior Ministry spokesman has said that a 130-foot stretch of cliff collapsed onto the Los Gigantes small beach. The landslide has killed at least two people and may have buried another two.
19.20h. The deceased have been identified by the Guardia Civil as a 57-year-old British woman Marion Auril O’Hara whose identity was obtained from her passport and who was staying in Calle el Pino on holiday and M.V.A.R. a 34 year-old- woman from Arona.
Questions are now being asked why the area was only closed to the public by plastic police tape after a smaller fall occurred a few weeks ago.
22.00h According to Canarias7 the Mayor of Santiago del Teide, Juan Damián Gorrín, has said that the area of the landslide which took the life of two women in Los Gigantes today had been adequately cordonned-off with beacons and tape. Something which has been refuted by at least 3 eye witnesses.
The head of the Consorcio de Bomberos de Tenerife, Fire-chief Salvador Reyes has announced that he does not believe there are any further victims trapped under the land slide.”Night has fallen and work is becoming difficult ” he said “But we do not think there is anyone else trapped”.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Terrible news, lets hope the others get out safely… Well done in getting the news out so promptly
November 1st, 2009 at 8:13 pm
One British women was killed. She was visiting. I watch it on canarias sat.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:24 pm
They are looking for missing people and rescue dogs are brought in.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:32 pm
This is very sad news I hope the are found safe
November 1st, 2009 at 8:37 pm
our thoughts are with them .well done with the news more than sky and bbc
November 1st, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Breaking News on SKY
November 1st, 2009 at 8:51 pm
All our thoughts are with the family´s of the dead victims and also those of the people that may be still burried and hope they are safe.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Last year I was right there. Why people are allowed to build houses there, mine is a mystery. My thoughts are with the families.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Awful news. I was on that beach when the last landslide happened there a month or so ago, luckily no one was hurt then but it could easily have been as bad as this.
I’m very surprised that the beach was not totally closed off after that, those cliffs did NOT look safe.
I’m very saddened to hear that these people so pointlessly lost their lives.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Very sad news, Our thoughts are with their families, hpe there will not be anymore casualties.
beach should now be closed until it is made safe.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:37 pm
My daughter in law and her mother were sat on the wall near the cafe this afternoon when it happened. Lots of small stones began to fall, as they turned around there was a loud rumble and they saw a section of the cliff face slide down onto the beach and several poor people below who had tragically chosen the wrong section of the beach today.
An horrendous sight to witness from which they remain deeply shocked and upset,our thoughts go out to the victims and their families who were doing nothing more than enjoying an afternoon at the beach.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:41 pm
How very sad, that such a lovely place can bring so much grief. My thoughts go to both families.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Those two women fall from above. Did´t n they? I guess the beach at this section was closed.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:58 pm
La Orotava valley was made in the this way - a very big landslide. The sides of volcanoes - old and new are unstable. Unfortunately no one can tell if this will happend again and no one can tell if this is a warning of something big coming. If the local government should close this beach they could just as well tell all the people living on top of the beach to move also - they are also in danger of a landslide from the cliff above them. We just have to hope that it never will happend again.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Our thoughts are with everyone in this area. Thankfully our family are safe but I know what I went through until we knew. Such an horrific tragedy.
November 1st, 2009 at 11:00 pm
this news is devestating,my heart goes out to the deceased,please god let there be no more buried underneath.
My daughter and grandchildren loved going to that beach,she felt safe with the kids there,thank goodness shes not over here at the moment
November 1st, 2009 at 11:28 pm
SO SAD! - My condolences to the victims families. I pray that the survivors quickly recover and that no more casualties result. The mayor should have done something after the last incident and MUST do something quickly to prevent this happeneing again! Los Gigantes is such a beautiful place. I have an apartment there and feel part of the community.
November 1st, 2009 at 11:29 pm
such horrid news, o live 10 mins away an could hear all the helicopters all arternoon, could not believe it when i heard the news, my heart goes out to all involved
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:16 am
Very sorry to have read the news of the lanslide at Los Gigantes. Feel sorry for all involved and their families. Our heartfelt sorrow goes out to all families involved.
Cy Benson & Family.
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:44 am
I have visited here and the beaches are so small They should do Something My heart goes out to the families
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:05 am
Extremely sad news, especially for relatives and friends of the people who died. As lovers of tenerife we all share the grief of this tragic loss.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:57 pm
So sad to hear of the terrible accident on the beach at Los Gigantes. I have been coming here for the past 15 years and due to return in 2 weeks time. My heart goes out to the families concerned and hope that this does not deter people from holidaying in this lovely part of the island.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:48 pm
This was waiting to happen i said the same to my wife the last time we were there very sad and very preventable.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:20 pm
As David says above - this incident was very preventable.
Think back only a year or two to the road collapse leading up to Spanish Corner. The bank started to collapse months before the road was actually closed, all the council seemed to do was watch it disintigrate before their very eyes even to the point where they installed traffic lights to make a one-way system once half the bank had fully collapsed.
They were still allowing busses and tourist coaches to use the road despite the worsening condition, and only pure luck avoided a horredous accident when they finally blocked the road off 3 hours before it completely collapsed.
Yes there is an economic “crisis”, and yes money is short. Whilst it is good to see the pavements being upgraded at the moment, there are more important projects which seem to need more urgent attention before tragedies like this continue to blacken any hope of the tourist market reviving in due course.
For example, the Puerto Santiago Plaza must be high on the risk list - the floor appears to be mostly steel sheeting covering the holes - how many people gather on it during Fiesta??
As others have suggested, I think now would be a very good time to hear from the local council, ideally via our British member as to what else they plan to ignore, or is it still too far ahead of the next election?
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:20 pm
We stayed just round the corner in Gigantes this week and saw and heard the sirens and helicopters on Sunday afternoon. There was clearly a major incident. We had visited the beach briefly the previous day and saw a tiny area of the beach taped off. Any fall could not possibly have been contained in that area. Sadly, the much mocked health and safety awareness in UK is rarely shared abroad where H&S is regarded far more casually. Although we love the island and Los Gigantes in particular, we often see things that would not be allowed here. Our thoughts are with the bereaved families - so sad.
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:49 pm
I was there last Tuesday and I have to say my partner and i both remarked that the cliff above the beach didn’t look very safe. My sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured, and let’s hope the authorities take the precaution of checking all such areas on the island. If the heavy police presence in Las Americas could be exchanged for the simple safety and care of tourists (their livelihood!), then Tenerife would make some headway.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:42 pm
So sorry to hear the devestating news. Was there myself last year with my pal. Why was the rock face not covered with a net to stop rocks falling especially when rocks had fallen weeks previously? My thoughts are with all the families concerned.
November 25th, 2009 at 12:14 am
No te metas donde no debes y tengan un poco mas de conciencia si te vas a bañar al lado de una montaña.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
I was on the beach with two friends when it happened.. we decided to leave the beach as we were walking off we heard loads of screams, walked back to find all the rocks had fallen. In no time at all services were there and men trying to shovel the rocks off as quickly as they could. Saddest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. my love goes out to the family. x