British man dies after tripping and falling 400ft off cliff on Balearic island
A British tourist has died after he plunged nearly 400ft off a cliff in Spain.
The 55-year-old Londoner was hoping to catch a glimpse of the La Mola Lighthouse on the Balearic island of Formentera when he slipped.
His spouse and friends watched helplessly as he lost his balance and fell to his death on Tuesday, according to local reports.
Local and national police sped to the scene after receiving a call at 1.15pm, joined by an ambulance crew and firefighters.
Drones, jet skis and a helicopter were used by first responders to find the vacationer as he couldn’t be seen from the top of the cliff.
A Civil Guard chopper found the man had drifted some 50ft out to the sea on the rocks at around 5pm.
His body had to be airlifted in a rescue bag, according to footage from the national police force.
Sources confirmed he was a UK resident after he was initially reported as Lebanese.
He had been on vacation and staying at the luxury hotel Ánfora Hotel in Ibiza.
SAMU061, the island’s emergency response unit, first reported the death of the man, who has not been named by authorities.
The agency said the man had fallen ‘at a great height’ by ‘accident’ before his body was found by the Civil Guard ‘in a place that was difficult to access’.
SAMU061 Informa: Accidente por caÃda de gran altura en el Faro de la Mola, Formentera. Se envÃa 1 unidad @SAMU061IB para atender a un afectado de 55 años que finalmente es localizado por helicóptero de @guardiacivil sin signos de vida en un lugar de difÃcil acceso. pic.twitter.com/7khby47aR7
Police are treating the incident as an accident and not a crime, a police spokesperson said.
La Mola lighthouse is one of the island’s top tourist attractions, located on the edge of a cliff nearly 400ft above sea level on the eastern end of the island.
The section of the cliffside the tourist fell from is protected with ropes to help prevent people from venturing near more perilous spots on the towering cliff, after a similar incident with a local in 2018.
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