American tourist causes tourist attraction to collapse; passing jet-skier killed

©Shana Van Roosbroek via Unsplash

If you’ve ever been on vacation in Malta, chances are you’ve taken a snapshot of the famous “Kissing Elephants Arch.” This week, however, things went terribly wrong at the tourist hotspot.

In Malta, a 26-year-old Chinese tourist lost his life after boulders from the famous natural arch known as the Kissing Elephants on Comino came crashing down. The man was riding a jet ski under the arch when the collapse occurred and was eventually found beneath the rubble on the seabed.

According to Maltese media, the collapse was triggered when a 32-year-old American tourist jumped off the rock arch. Shortly afterward, the limestone formation collapsed, and the debris fell into the sea just as the jet ski was passing underneath it. The American was rescued from the water and did not require hospitalization.

A 27-year-old Chinese woman who was riding on the same jet ski was also injured. She was taken to a hospital on Gozo and, according to local media, sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The search for the missing man took hours; divers from the Maltese Armed Forces later found him under heavy boulders on the seabed.

Authorities have launched a judicial investigation. They are also looking into possible signs that the arch had been unstable for some time. A kayaker told the Times of Malta that a crack had already been visible two weeks earlier.

The Kissing Elephants was one of Malta’s most famous natural formations and was located on Comino, a small island northwest of the mainland. According to local reports, the arch had previously partially collapsed, making the remaining section even thinner and more fragile.

The accident has since sparked fierce criticism of safety conditions at the popular tourist attraction. A local boat operator paid tribute to the victim and called the incident an “immeasurable tragedy.”

©Shana Van Roosbroek via Unsplash - illustrative image