Emergency services unable to save the child, who died of head injuries in Staithes

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A schoolgirl has died after sustaining head injuries in a rockfall at a seaside village in North Yorkshire, police have said.

Emergency services were called to reports of the incident at Seaton Garth in Staithes shortly before 5pm on Wednesday but were unable to save the nine-year-old, who died at the scene.

North Yorkshire police said they attended, along with the fire and rescue, ambulance, air ambulance and coastguard services.

“Her family are currently being supported by specialist trained officers,” said North Yorkshire police on Wednesday evening.

The RNLI confirmed that “volunteer crew members of Staithes and Runswick lifeboat station responded to a rockfall at Seaton Garth in Staithes this afternoon”.

It added: “The RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew attended to a child who sadly died at the scene. The RNLI, and in particular the volunteers of Staithes and Runswick lifeboat station, would like to share their deepest condolences with the child’s family.”

It is not the first rock fall death to occur along the British coastline. In June 2015, Georgina Le Fjord died after being hit on the head by a falling rock at a beach in Llantwit Major, which is located between Swansea and Cardiff on the Glamorgan coast.

The 23-year-old, who was originally from Salisbury, had been having a picnic with a friend and was said to be sitting about five metres away from a cliff when the rock hit her.

Three years earlier, 22-year-old Charlotte Blackman died after being buried by tonnes of rock following the collapse of a cliff on a Dorset beach. Blackman, from Heanor, Derbyshire, was killed in July 2012 as horrified onlookers, including her father and boyfriend, tried to reach her before another section of cliff gave way.

She was on holiday with her family and boyfriend when the incident occured at Hive beach in Burton Bradstock. Just two weeks later, five people escaped unhurt after a major rockfall along the Jurassic Coast near Charmouth, Dorset.



The British Geological Survey (BGS) has warned about the dangers of getting close to cliffs because the coastline is prone to occasional rockfalls.

They usually occur after sustained heavy rainfall and can be unpredictable. The BGS has urged the public to use common sense when approaching cliffs due to the fact they can be unstable.