A 12-year-old boy, Zhihan Zhao, died after slipping and falling at Ireland’s Cliffs of Moher near County Clare on 23 July 2023. Zhihan and his mother, both Chinese nationals, were at the beauty spot with her friends when he wandered away from the group and fell. A coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death during the inquest, embracing Zhihan’s distressed mother afterward.
This incident is the second fatal fall at the Cliffs of Moher within a three-month period in 2023. About twelve days before his death, Zhihan and his mother had arrived in Ireland. His mother stated that he was walking ahead of her on the trail and described how she lost sight of him. She searched for him at the visitor center but couldn’t find him and reported him missing, providing the police with a photo taken earlier.
Marion Tourgon, a French tourist, witnessed Zhihan’s fall and recounted the scene during the inquest. She described seeing Zhihan slip in a puddle, trying to pull himself up by the grass, and then falling over the edge without making a sound. The Tourgon family immediately contacted emergency services, leading to a five-day search operation by the Irish Coast Guard, police, and volunteers. Zhihan’s body was eventually found by a fisherman, Matthew O’Halloran, on 28 July at sea between Doolin and the Aran Islands.
The post-mortem confirmed that Zhihan died from traumatic injuries consistent with a fall from a great height. The coroner, Isobel O’Dea, expressed her condolences to the family and noted that Zhihan’s death would have been instantaneous. Considering safety concerns following this and another fatal incident, large sections of the Cliffs of Moher trail have been closed since August 2023.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy30nqwy99o
