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Man dies after 'tombstoning' off Plymouth Hoe cliff | Man dies after 'tombstoning' off Plymouth Hoe cliff |
(about 2 hours later) | |
A 39-year-old man has died after "tombstoning" off cliffs on the Plymouth coast. | A 39-year-old man has died after "tombstoning" off cliffs on the Plymouth coast. |
His body was found in the water on the seafront near the Citadel on Thursday afternoon, police said. | His body was found in the water on the seafront near the Citadel on Thursday afternoon, police said. |
The area around Plymouth Hoe is popular for tombstoning, where thrill-seekers leap from high places into open water. | |
A police spokesperson said the death was not being treated as suspicious and the man's next of kin have been informed. | A police spokesperson said the death was not being treated as suspicious and the man's next of kin have been informed. |
More on this story, and other Devon news | More on this story, and other Devon news |
Assistant Chief Constable Paul Netherton of Devon and Cornwall Police tweeted that he was "really saddened" and "we lose too many people being washed off cliffs as it is". | Assistant Chief Constable Paul Netherton of Devon and Cornwall Police tweeted that he was "really saddened" and "we lose too many people being washed off cliffs as it is". |
The coastguard's latest figures show that tombstoning has led to an average of two deaths a year over the past 10 years. | |
Why tombstoning is dangerous | |
Source: Maritime and Coastguard Agency | |
Between 2005 and 2015 coastguards dealt with more than 200 incidents of tombstoning, with 83 injuries and 20 deaths. | |
An 11-year-old boy died in July after reportedly tombstoning from a bridge into a canal in Rotherham. | |
Cornwall Council issued a warning after receiving reports of young people in Bude, St Ives, Newquay and Portreath leaping from road bridges, locks and closed-off piers after drinking alcohol. | |
Simon Blackburn, from the Local Government Association, said: "The message is clear - if you don't know that the depth of the water is safe or you cannot see what is below the surface, don't jump." |
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