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Getty Images<\/p>\nGetty Images<\/p>\n
Roxan Bastaens fell at the Cliffs of Moher in May 2024<\/p>\n
A coroner has found that the death of a 20-year-old student who fell while walking at the side of a “huge puddle” on a trail at the Cliffs of Moher was “accidental”. <\/p>\n
Roxan Bastaens, who was a student at the University of Edinburgh, fell from the cliff edge in May 2024. <\/p>\n
Three friends of Ms Bastaens gave eye-witness testimony at the Clare Coroner’s Court in Kilrush, in County Clare, on Friday.<\/p>\n
The county coroner said: “Unfortunately we have a number of deaths at the Cliffs of Moher each year and this was an absolute accident.”<\/p>\n
Warning: this article contains details some may find distressing.<\/p>\n
‘She wouldn’t have suffered’<\/p>\n
The coroner Isobel O’Dea added that the post-mortem examination found that Ms Bastaens died as a result of poly trauma as a result of a fall from a height.<\/p>\n
Members of Ms Bastaens’s family travelled to Kilrush for the inquest.<\/p>\n
Ms O’Dea told them that her death “would have been instantaneous and she wouldn’t have suffered”.<\/p>\n
The eye-witnesses were not present at the inquest, but statements from them to Gardai (Irish police) were read by Insp Ronan McMahon.<\/p>\n
Italian student Guilia Bracchi said that “the trail was protected at the beginning but later on it got slippery and there was no barrier”.<\/p>\n
She also said conditions were calm, adding: “We all had hiking boots on. It was not difficult.”<\/p>\n
After 13:00 (local time) on 4 May, Ms Bracchi said they were walking single file as they approached a “big puddle”.<\/p>\n
“I had seen lots of people walking in exactly the same way before us,” she said. <\/p>\n
Ms Bracchi said that Ms Bastaens had her camera in her hand and was looking at her steps as she walked.<\/p>\n
“She fell forward and she started tumbling down and I tried to catch her but I couldn’t. It all happened so fast.”<\/p>\n
“I looked down and I saw her hit off the cliffs twice and then she then went out of sight.”<\/p>\n
Ms Bracchi said later she could see Roxan’s body face down in the water.<\/p>\n
‘Awful fright’<\/p>\n
Catherine Didier, from France, who was walking in front of Roxan, said: “I walked past the puddle no problem. <\/p>\n
“I balanced and I didn’t slip – I had to be careful. When I passed the puddle I turned around and I saw Roxan slipping off the edge. I tried to lean towards her to catch her but she was too far away – I got an awful fright, I started panicking.”<\/p>\n
“I didn’t want to look over the edge,” she said. <\/p>\n
“We started calling people for help and we called the emergency services.”<\/p>\n
Student Prune Dussud said: “One second Roxan was there and the next she was gone.”<\/p>\n
“At this point I was looking down at my feet. I heard my friend Guilia gasp. When I looked up I was aware that Roxan had fallen. Everything had happened so quickly. I am not sure how it happened.”<\/p>\n
Ms Bastaens’s remains were recovered from the water at 15:10 (local time) by an RNLI boat.<\/p>\n