A young man in his twenties from Antwerp province has been seriously injured after jumping from a rock face into the water at the former quarry of Scoufflény in Écaussinnes (Hainault Province ). The mayor of the Walloon municipality emphasises that entering the site is prohibited.
Due to the particularly difficult and dangerous location of the quarry, a specialist team was deployed to reach the young man via the water and rescue him by boat. He was then taken to hospital. The old quarry is situated on private land where swimming is strictly prohibited.
According to the newspaper Sudinfo, the boy was at the quarry with four friends. At around 5 pm yesterday evening he jumped into the water from a rock face from a height of about 6 to 7 metres.
The young man injured his shoulder when he landed on an underwater object. According to Mayor Sébastien Deschamps, there are rocks and old metal machinery from the quarry in the water.
“This accident demonstrates once again just how dangerous the former quarry is. Despite all the warnings, people continue to enter the site, often because social media paints a misleading and appealing picture of this place,” says Mayor Deschamps, addressing visitors from Flanders in particular.
‘No dive, no swim and no photo is worth risking your life.’ According to the mayor, steep rock faces, great depths, ice-cold water and old submerged structures lead to life-threatening situations.
Just last month, two young people drowned in an abandoned quarry in Sprimont, in Liège Province.