THE nine-year-old boy thought to have been seriously injured when he was buried under rocks was discharged from hospital yesterday, Coastguards said.

He was completely covered by the falling rubble on Sunday as he played in the late summer sun at Lulworth Cove.

Initially it was thought that the child had serious spinal injuries, but yesterday he was discharged from hospital, a Coastguard spokesman confirmed.

He said: “It’s all round good news, if you consider the situation. It’s an unpredictable event of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; it had a very successful outcome.”

The child was thought to have been lying down at the time the rocks fell from 10ft above and shocked onlookers, including the boy’s father, raced to free the child from the rubble, which also struck an 11-year-old girl.

When Coastguards arrived, the child had already been freed from under the rocks and was airlifted to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, while the girl was taken via ambulance. She was released the same day.

The incident happened on the eastern side of the cove at Black Rock. Coastguards said that cliff falls do not happen often at the cove, the last one being earlier this year, but nobody was nearby at the time.

Yesterday Lulworth Estate staff were at the cove assessing the scene.

A spokesman said rock falls and land slips were rare, but warning signs were put up around coastal areas. Patrick Durnford, assistant to the Lulworth Estate general manager, said: “It is not known what may have triggered this particular slip, although this is being looked into. The incident is regrettable and we do hope that visitors will not be discouraged from enjoying the stunning and unspoilt coast around Lulworth Cove.

“The estate is relieved to hear that both the children, particularly the boy, who was more seriously injured, are making a good recovery and our thoughts remain very much with them and their family.”