Holiday-maker dies after falling from Étretat cliff in Normandy

A 24-year-old woman has died after falling from a cliff while on holiday with friends in Normandy.

The woman died yesterday (January 6) after she fell from the top of a cliff while posing for a photo with friends in Étretat, Seine-Maritime. She was holidaying with five friends when she fell.

She reportedly had her back to the sea, and accidentally went too far backwards, falling tens of metres to the bottom of the cliff. Emergency services were called but the woman could not be revived.

Two of the woman’s friends, aged 18 and 20, tried to grab the woman as she fell, but they also began to slip and were found halfway down the cliff face.

They were picked up with no injuries, by an emergency helicopter.

Mayor of Étretat, André Baillard, was informed of the incident. He reminded holidaymakers of the high danger of straying from the marked paths on the cliffs.

It comes just months after residents of the small Normandy town called for better management of the Étretat cliffs, after thousands of tourists began flocking to them every day over summer, partly driven by the globally-successful French-language Netflix series Lupin.

In late August, the local tourist office reported a 21% rise in the number of visitors in the first half of 2021 compared to the same time in 2020.

At the time Mr Baillard said he could be “obliged to prohibit” access to the cliffs to protect the ground from erosion and take pressure off the local community and emergency services.

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