The cliff edge of St Peter’s Pool, in Delimara where a 38-year-old man jumped from and was later rushed to hospital is surrounded by a wire fence and signs warning people to keep away from the edge.

Footage of Sunday’s incident showed the Albanian national jumping off the cliff into the water. When other bathers saw that he remained underwater, they swam out to him and took him to shore.

While his condition is still unknown, sources told Times of Malta that the man walked to the ambulance and initially refused to go to the hospital but was persuaded to go by the medical team on site.

Following the incident, reactions on social media were varied.

While many criticised that swimmers should have “common sense” not to jump from such heights, others called for more awareness and warning signs to be placed to reduce such dangerous leaps.

One man who was left paralysed after a cliff jump went wrong also volunteered to take part in safety campaigns following Sunday’s incident.

There were never any signs but, even if we did place them, people will continue to jump off those cliffs- Marsaxlokk mayor Stephen Grech

Mayor: 'People will jump even if we put up signs'

However, the same cliff’s edge is surrounded by a waist-high wired fence, which spans from one side to the other. Along the fence are warning signs to keep away from the edge due to falling rocks.

When asked if warning signs against cliff jumping will be put up following the recent incident, Marsaxlokk mayor Stephen Grech dismissed such calls.

The local council is responsible for the upkeep of St Peter’s Pool.

“There were never any signs but, even if we did place them, people will continue to jump off those cliffs,” he told Times of Malta. Grech said that although the council receives funding from the government to manage the locality’s beaches it lacks sufficient funds for Delimara.

8 tourists suffered spinal injuries from jumping off Cominotto

According to a Gozo ministry spokesperson, four signs were placed on Cominotto – an islet off Comino – back in 2013, after which the number of cliff jumps decreased drastically.

“In fact, last year and this year no accidents were reported on Cominotto,” she said.

Ten years ago, after eight tourists suffered spinal injuries from jumping off the cliffs at Cominotto, the authorities had put up signs warning people not to jump.

Yet, daredevils ignored such signs and continued to take a leap of faith from the cliff’s edge of the islet.

In 2014, MTA and Transport Malta closed off Cominotto for boats to prevent pleasure craft  from disembarking people straight onto the islet.

In August of the same year, Gozo General Hospital had to deal with 20 cases of severe spinal injuries as a result of daredevil cliff jumping.