Updated at 11.45am
The girl critically injured when she was hit by falling rocks while swimming in St Paul’s Bay on Monday remains sedated in intensive care, this newspaper is informed.
Eyewitnesses said she was one of four swimming in the small sandy bay next to the Barracudas waterpolo club when rocks and rubble came crashing down. The girl’s grandmother was in the sea nearby and pulled the young victim out of the water.
The area is popular among bathers, with children often playing with the small pebbles found inside the caves there.
Sources said the girl underwent emergency surgery in the afternoon after suffering blunt force trauma to the head. She is believed to have multiple skull fractures.
She underwent emergency surgery in the afternoon after suffering blunt force trauma to the head.She is believed to have multiple skull fractures
Another girl, who was swimming close by, missed being buried under the rubble by mere centimetres and escaped with only some scratches. A doctor who happened to be in the vicinity assisted the badly injured girl until paramedics and Civil Protection Department personnel arrived.
St Paul’s Bay mayor Graziella Galea has called on the authorities to order an inspection of the cliffs in the area and decide whether the beach should be closed off. The area was temporarily cordoned off by the police yesterday.
Residents said cracks in a cave there had been a source of concern for several years.