A tourist from Nevada was killed Wednesday by a collapsing stretch of oceanside bluff at the Torrey Pines State Beach, authorities said.
The 57-year-old, whose identity was not released, was at the beach with his brother and nephew when rocks the size of basketballs came down, officials said.
"He was just spending a day at the beach with his family," said Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. "He'd gone to the foot of the cliff to take off his shoes, and a small section of the bluffs just gave way and came down."
The section of collapsed cliff - about 30 feet wide - was several hundred feet below the Torrey Pines Golf Course, which hosted the U.S. Open in June.
The beach and parts of the bluff surrounding the collapse were closed.