A group of beachgoers was injured Friday, one fatally, when part of a sea bluff collapsed onto them on a stretch of ocean shoreline in Encinitas.
The cliff failure at Grandview Surf Beach in Encinitas occurred shortly before 3 p.m., just north of a lifeguard station that was staffed at the time, according to officials.
Emergency personnel pulled five people out of the rubble, Encinitas Fire Chief Mike Stein told reporters.
One of the victims, a woman, was pronounced dead at the scene. Three others were taken to hospitals, two in critical condition and one with minor trauma, Stein said. One other was treated at the scene for superficial injuries.
Authorities brought in a service-dog team to search for anyone else who might have wound up buried under the roughly 25- by 30-foot earthen pile, which was about 10 feet tall at its highest point, Stein said.
The collapse was believed to have sent 15 to 20 cubic yards of material onto the beach, the fire chief added.
As a public-safety precaution, the city closed the shoreline from Ponto Beach on the north to several hundred yards south of the accident site near the foot of Grandview Street.
"We do have concerns," lifeguard Capt. Larry Giles told news crews. "There is an area in there (where the cliff remains) unstable."
