Dramatic landslide in Zakynthos Island, Greece: 7 people injured

The beach of Navagio in Zakynthos Island, Greece was struck by a massive rockfall resulting in 7 people injured including 2 children.

Navagio is located in the Northwest part of Zakynthos (or Zante) Island, surrounded by steep cliffs of disintegrated limestone. The site is accessible only by boat. The name of the beach means shipwreck and stands for the perished ship that lies on the beach from 1983.

The incident occurred at around 11:15 am in 13 of September 2018. According to authorities, one woman from Czech Republic was hospitalized with back pains while 6 more suffered minor injuries. Precautionary search was conducted in case someone was trapped under the debris of the landslide but fortunately everyone was safe. Witnesses report that some boats overturned by the high waves that followed the rockfall.

People in three private boats were very close to the landslide. A witness told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency: "We heard a sound and a small part of the rock fell, then a second one, and finally a third and large piece dropped in the sea, creating turbulence that overturned the boats." A boat owner adds: "We arrived at the beach at 10:30 am. We swam for 15 minutes and then returned to our boat when suddenly we saw rocks falling just 20m. away. Before realizing what was going on, another rockfall occurred and our boat was turned upside down. We then saw another boat literally travelling in the air before crushing our vessel. A family from Czech Republic was in that boat. Fortunately, we are lucky to be safe"

The next day, authorities decided to temporarily close the site in fear of new landslide incidents. Precautions should be taken to prevent such events in the future, especially considering that the Islands on the west part of Greece are located in an earthquake-prone zone and more devastating landslides can occur (E.g. Lefkada Island Mw 6,5 in 2015)