A 12-year old boy lost his balance after slipping in a puddle close to the edge of the Cliffs of Moher before falling over the edge to his death, his inquest has heard.
In eye-witness testimony at Clare coroner’s court, reviewing the accidental death of Zhihan Zhao at the Cliffs of Moher on July 23rd last year, French tourist Marion Tourgon described seeing him fall over the edge at about 1.45pm on the day.
Zhihan had set out on walking the Cliffs of Moher trail with his mother, Xianhong Huang, and her friends.
In her evidence, a tearful Ms Huang said Zhihan was walking ahead of her on the trail when she lost sight of him.
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Ms Tourgon told the inquest she and her family were taking a selfie when she saw a young Asian boy, who was alone, come into view.
She said she saw his right foot slip into a puddle and his left foot ended up in the air as he tried to stop himself from falling.
“It was very quick. He found himself in an awkward position with his left foot in a void over the cliff and his right knee on the edge of the cliff,” said Ms Tourgon.
“His right knee eventually fell into the void over the cliff and he was trying to grasp the grass with his hands to pull himself up. He didn’t shout and there was no noise.”
She said her family alerted the emergency services by phone.
Speaking through an interpreter, Ms Huang said her son walked “very fast and was ahead of us by 50 metres”.
“As there was only one path, I thought we would meet him along the way. When I didn’t, I walked to the visitor centre and I checked the visitor centre.”
When she couldn’t find her son there, she walked back along the path to search for him and then reported him missing.
Ms Huang asked: “What exactly caused Zhihan to fall from the Cliffs?”
Clare coroner Isobel O’Dea said Ms Tourgon’s evidence would help answer that question.
Sergeant Claire McGuigan said Ms Huang provided a photo of Zhihan she had taken taken earlier on the Cliffs of Moher trail.
Garda Colm Collins said the Coastguard later spotted a body at the base of the cliffs.
A lifeboat was launched but it could not access the area due to the sea conditions. Zhihan’s body was recovered from the sea five days later, after it was spotted by a fisherman, Matthew O’Halloran from Corofin, Co Clare.
The coroner said the post-mortem examination found Zhihan died from multiple traumatic injuries consistent with a fall from a height. Ms O’Dea said her verdict was one of “accidental death”.
“It is clear from evidence we heard that Zhihan slipped off the cliffs rather than any other way. His death would have been very quick - instantaneous.”
Ms O’Dea told Ms Huang: “I can’t imagine how upsetting this is for you.”
On August 22nd of last year, the Clare Local Development Company, which manages the trail, closed off large sections of the route, which remain closed off today due to continuing safety concerns.
At the time, the company confirmed it was taking the action following two recent fatal accidents on the trail.
In May 2024, a woman in her 20s from Belgium died after she fell from the cliffs..
