Chinese tourist Zhihan Zhao, 12, tragically slipped in a puddle and fell to his death at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, a witness told an inquest
A 12-year-old boy slipped in a puddle and lost his balance by the edge of a cliff before he plunged to his death, an inquest has heard.
French tourist Marion Tourgon described the moment young Zhihan Zhao accidentally died at the Cliffs of Moher in western Ireland, on July 23, 2024. The 12-year-old had set out on a walk with his mum, Xianhong Huang, and friends on the Cliffs of Moher trail but the stroll turned fatal at around 1.45pm. The Chinese nationals had only arrived to Ireland 12 days before the tragic incident, and were visiting one of the country’s most popular attractions.
The mum said her son was walking ahead of her on the trail when she lost sight of him. She told how they started walking from the Nagle’s car park in Liscannor, and said: “My 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 him the mum walked back along the path then reported her boy missing. Speaking through an interpreter at the inquest in Kildare, Huang cried and asked: “What exactly caused Zhihan to fall from the Cliffs?”
Tourgon told the inquest she had been at the edge of the cliffs at 1.45pm with her husband and two children taking a selfie, the Irish Mirror reports. The French tourist said she saw a young Asian boy come into her eyeline while they were taking the picture and recalled what she saw next.
She said: “I saw him slipping in the puddle that appears in the photo that my husband sent to the police. His right foot slipped into the puddle with him trying to stop himself from falling with his left foot but his left foot ended up in the air.
“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. 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.”
Tourgon said she alerted the emergency services by phone and added that “it is only the few of us who saw him falling”. Heartbroken Huang asked “did he slip?”, and Insp Helen Costello replied: “It appears from the witness that he slipped into the void having stumbled in the puddle.”
Police officer Colm Collins said he received a call that day at 2pm to attend the Cliffs of Moher after a male was seen falling off. He added that the Irish Coastguard had spotted a body floating in the water at the bottom of the cliffs.
Collins said a lifeboat was sent but the craft was not able to access the site where the body was spotted due to the sea conditions. Zhihan’s body was recovered by a fisherman five days later around 10am on July 28.
O’Dea said the post mortem found that Zhihan died from multiple traumatic injuries consistent with a fall from a height and said her verdict was an “accidental death”.
She said: “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.” O’Dea told Ms Huang: “I can’t imagine how upsetting this is for you” and the two embraced as Ms Huang left the coroner’s court in Kilrush. She added: “The pain must be immeasurable for you all.”
