Normandy cliff landslide on a beach near Fécamp – Le Figaro

Any searches of victims Thursday have given nothing, and were halted in the evening. The relief however are not sure “100%” no one is buried under the rock.

A cliff of massive landslide on a beach of the Alabaster Coast north of Fécamp (Seine-Maritime) sparked Thursday afternoon fears of possible victims, but searches have yielded nothing and were stopped in the evening. “Research has been interrupted to 6:30 p.m., following a decision of the town mayor” has indeed said Captain Eric Tirelle, spokesman departmental operational committee of fire and rescue (CODIS) of Seine-Maritime. Both dogs specialized in earthquakes, which participated in the search, “noticed no hot spot,” said Eric Tirelle, who nevertheless acknowledged that it could be 100% sure of the absence of people under the rocks.

This collapse over a distance of a hundred meters from the cliff, occurred around 2:00 p.m.. About 50,000 m3 of rock collapsed on a beach in the town of Saint-Martin-aux-Buneaux, between Etretat and St-Valéry-en-Caux, at a place called “Small plates”. There were “suspicions about the presence of persons under the mass of chalky rocks,” Evidence from loops, indicated in the afternoon a statement Seine-Maritime prefecture.

Some 45 firefighters Seine-maritime, assisted by a dog team came from neighboring Calvados, undertook research into the pile of rocks. Two ambulances were ready to take any load wounded. A helicopter and boats Customs participated in the search, having mounted the sea. For its part, the police began to check every car parked in the vicinity to ensure that the owner was present at the scene.

“This collapse is a natural phenomenon, known in our region, it is not exceptional, “commented Eric Tirelle. In most cases, these collapses are not victims, but in August 2015, on the beach of Varengeville-sur-Mer, an octogenarian fisherman was killed. In 2013, near Etretat, 30,000 tons were detached, causing no casualties. In Dieppe, a southern district of the city will have to be modified and destroyed houses, because of the risk of landslides.

According to geologists, this part of the coast of the Channel, the cliff undergoes erosion down with landslides on the seafront but on top of underground sand pockets and rain waterlogged clay swell over time and shatter the chalk cliff. A precise study of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM), was conducted late 2015 in Dieppe, with drilling and coring, causing southern district restructuring. Seine-Maritime Prefecture called holidaymakers caution.