Michelle Attard Tonna said she saw a crack in a natural arch in Comino two weeks before the Malta kissing elephants arch collapse that killed a tourist on Saturday evening. She said the rock had looked vulnerable on the last trip through the area.
Attard Tonna told Times of Malta she passed through the arch by kayak two weeks earlier and noticed the crack in the rock. She said: “it seemed like a collapse was bound to happen.”
Comino arch on Saturday evening
The arch collapsed on Saturday evening and killed a tourist. Kayakers and jet skiers would pass underneath it every day, while trekkers would access it from land and take photos on top of it.
The formation sat beneath Santa Marija Battery. To reach it, a person had to climb down from the battery or climb up from near the sea.
Outdoor Explorers Malta described it as “a bit of a niche spot, but iconic for those who knew about it.” The group said boat charters regularly travelled there so passengers could photograph the formation, and snorkellers sought it out because the marine life was better than at Blue Lagoon or Crystal Lagoon.
Michelle Attard Tonna
Attard Tonna also said: “There were no signs warning anyone not to approach the arch, from land or sea.” That leaves the collapse tied not only to the fall itself, but to a place people were already using every day without any barrier or warning in sight.
The broader pattern around the coast is plain in the other closures and warnings already issued. In March, Transport Malta warned kayakers and small boat users to keep a safe distance from the Valletta Quarry Wharf area because of a continued risk of falling rocks. Earlier this year, parts of Għar Lapsi were closed off after Storm Harry, last year parts of Mġiebaħ, Selmun, were closed off, and last month a site at St Peter’s Pool near Delimara was closed off after people raised alarm on social media.
For anyone still heading toward the arch by sea or land, the practical point is simple: the formation is gone, and the warning signs that were not there before will not change what happened on Saturday evening. The unanswered question is what caused the arch to collapse when it did.
