Student killed in fall from Scottish cliff

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A student at St. Andrews University in Scotland died early Friday when he fell from a cliff while returning home from a Bonfire Night party, police said.

Alex Wilson, 19, fell 60 feet into the sea about 1:30 a.m., The Times of London reported. His body was found about 90 minutes later after it washed up on a beach.

Investigators said the student thought he was on a short cut after leaving a party where students were celebrating Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day. The holiday marks the thwarting of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James I.

"It would appear to be death by misadventure -- a tragic accident rather than anything more mysterious," a police spokesman told the Daily Mail.

Wilson, a first-year student from Alberbury, Shropshire, was studying French, Spanish and social anthropology.

Six people have died in falls from the cliffs near the famous Old Course at St. Andrews in the past seven years. Two were visitors from overseas, a young Montana man in Scotland for the Hogmanay or New Year celebrations and a South African in St. Andrews for the Open golf championship.