Missing man believed to have jumped off Flatrock cliff
CBC News has learned that the unidentified man who went over a cliff in Flatrock on Saturday is believed to have voluntary jumped into the water while swimming with friends.
The cliff sits near the Stiles Cove Path. Warning signs caution hikers to enter the area at their own risk and be mindful of steep cliffs.
Searchers from several agencies were assisted by local fishermen over the weekend. The search stopped for the night by 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Emergency responders first got the call about the man falling over the cliff around 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Flatrock area has seen two tragedies near its cliffs recently. Ten days ago, 21-year-old Jessica McErlean died while rock climbing in an area of Flatrock known as The Beamer.
"It was heart wrenching, to hear of another death down here," Flatrock Mayor Darrin Thorne said in an interview Monday.
He told CBC Radio that to have two such incidents in his town in less than two weeks is difficult to comprehend.
"Since our last council meeting two people have died in our town," he said.
Through the weekend, a coast guard vessel worked with smaller boats and a helicopter to search the waters near where the man is thought to have fallen.
Thorne said he has limited information.
"From what I heard it was something related to swimming and someone on the East Coast Trail," he said.
With cooperating seas and weather, Police and SAR continue search for missing man in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Flatrock?src=hash">#Flatrock</a> today. <a href="http://t.co/GI4ryI45FW">pic.twitter.com/GI4ryI45FW</a>
—@Chief_RideoutThe area where the man is thought to have gone over is on a different side of town from the rock climbing incident on Aug. 21.
Thorne said the town may look at the idea of putting more signs on the East Coast Trail, warning people of the dangers of the nearby cliffs.
In the meantime, he said people need to be more cautious when around the popular hiking trails near the community.
"It's over 250 kilometres of trails, and those trails have opened a lot of areas where people wouldn't usually be," he said.
"I would just like to make people aware that if you're on the trails, some of those trails are very close to the edge of a cliff and you need to be careful and aware of that."