Student fell to her death after tripping in puddle at famous cliffs

A student at a British university fell to her death from the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland after tripping in a puddle, an inquest has heard. Roxan Bastaens, 20, was a Belgian national studying at the University of Edinburgh. She travelled to the west of Ireland for a hiking holiday with friends, two French students and Italian Giulia Bracchi, in May last year, weeks before her 21st birthday. The group left in the morning in calm weather and wearing appropriate hiking boots, Clare Coroner's Court in Kilrush heard.

"It was not difficult," Ms Bracchi told the hearing. "There were hundreds of people on the cliffs. The impression was that the trail was safe." The woman recalled that Ms Bastaens was holding her camera and watching her footing, before moving to avoid a pool of water.

Ms Bracchi said: "She fell forward and she started tumbling down and I tried to catch her, but I couldn't. It all happened so fast."

"I looked down and I saw her hit off the cliffs twice and then she then went out of sight," she added, according to the MailOnline.

She then saw Ms Bastaens's body lying face down in the water.

County coroner Isobel O'Dea decided upon a verdict of accidental death.

There was no alcohol nor drugs in Ms Bastaen's system.

Ms O'Dea told the court that her death "would have been instantaneous and she wouldn't have suffered".

Parts of the walking route were closed by the Clare Local Development Company in August last year, and are still shut due to safety concerns, the hearing heard.

There have been multiple deaths at the cliffs in recent years.

Concerns have been raised that the walking trail is too close to their edge, with "serious construction work" having taken place to ensure the site was deemed safe to use.

In July 2024, a 12-year-old boy fell off the cliffs and died instantly after slipping into a puddle.

In 2019, a man fell from the famous site, purportedly as he was taking a selfie.