Photo Gallery Disaster on Rügen
A large piece of chalk cliff collapsed at Kap Arkona on Germany's Rügen Island on Monday afternoon. The landslide struck a family walking along the beach, including a mother and two daughters. The mother and sister survived and are being treated in a hospital, but the 10-year-old girl is still missing. She is believed to be buried in the chalk debris.
German rescue workers and firemen can be seen during their night-time search and rescue effort. Search dogs were also deployed to assist in trying to find the girl.
It is initially unclear whether the girl was buried in the landslide or if she was swept into the sea, so boats were also used in the search and rescue effort.
Later Monday, night, officials said it was more likely the girl was buried in the landslide.
In recent years, major chunks of the cliffs have broken off in landslides. The largest incident happened in August. Officials haven't completely shut off the beaches, but they have warned of the dangers presented by the landslides.
Here, a lone tree can be seen at the site of an earlier landslide.
A geologist at the local national park has warned that extreme weather fluctuations as well as rising sea levels may be responsible for the increase in the number of landslides at Rügen Island's picturesque chalk cliffs.
The cliffs were immortalized in a famous painting by Caspar David Friedrich in the 1800s and have been a major tourist draw in Germany.
