LISBON, Portugal, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- At least five people were killed and eight injured when rock from a cliff slid to a beach crowded with sunbathers on the Portuguese Algarve.
The sandstone cliff near Albuferia was posted with signs warning it was unstable, The Daily Telegraph reported.
People who were on the beach at the time told local broadcasters the cliff face came down with a "deafening" noise. A cloud of rock dust rose from the area.
"You heard the noise of the rocks falling and then people screaming," one witness said.
The Algarve, the coastal strip on Portugal's south, has become a popular tourist destination. Investigators were unsure late Friday whether any of the dead were from outside the country.
At least one of those killed was a child and another was described as a man in his 60s. One woman, 38, died in a hospital after being pulled from the rubble.
Late in the day, rescuers were still trying to recover at least two bodies, racing the rising tide.
Albuferia Mayor Desiderio Silva said he believed the stretch of beach under the cliff had enough signs to warn of the danger.
