Boy fell over edge at Cliffs of Moher after slipping, inquest told

Zhihan had set out on walking the Cliffs of Moher trail from the southern side towards the visitor centre with his mother, Xianhong Huang, and her friends. 

The two Chinese nationals had arrived in Ireland only 12 days previously. Ms Huang said Zhihan was walking ahead of her on the trail and she lost sight of him.

Speaking through an interpreter at the inquest in Kilrush, Ms Huang asked: “What exactly caused Zhihan to fall from the cliffs?” 

Clare county coroner Isobel O'Dea told Ms Huang the evidence of Ms Tourgon would help answer that question.

Ms Tourgon said she was at the edge of the cliffs with her husband and two children at around 1.45pm. They were taking a selfie when she saw a young Asian boy, who was alone, come into view.

“I saw him slipping in the puddle that appears in the photo that my husband sent to the police," Ms Tourgon said.

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.”

She said that “it is the only the few of us who saw him falling”. 

One path

The Tourgons alerted the emergency services by phone. Ms Huang asked: “Did he slip?”

In reply, Insp Helen Costello told her: “It appears from the witness that he slipped into the void having stumbled in the puddle.” 

In her deposition, Ms Huang said she started out from Nagle’s carpark in Liscannor with Zhihan and friends of hers.

“My son walked very fast and was ahead of us by 50m. 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, she walked back along the path to search for her son and after not finding him, she reported him missing.

She said she last saw Zhihan at 1pm that day. She said Zhihan was a fluent English speaker.

Sgt Claire McGuigan said Ms Huang was able to provide a photo of Zhihan she had taken taken earlier on the trail.

Garda Colm Collins said he received a call that day at 2pm after a boy was seen falling off the cliff edge.

He said the Irish Coast Guard spotted a body floating in the water at the base of the Cliffs of Moher. A lifeboat was launched, but it was not able to access the site where the body was spotted due to the sea conditions.

Autopsy

Zhihan’s body would not be recovered for another five days. Fisherman Matthew O’Halloran, from Corofin, spotted a body in the water between Doolin and the Aran Islands shortly after 10am on July 28. He alerted the coastguard at Valentia and members of the Doolin unit retrieved Zhihan’s body from the waters and brought it ashore.

Ms O’Dea said the autopsy 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." The two embraced as Ms Huang left the Coroner’s Court. Ms O’Dea also extended her sympathies to Zhihan’s father, who was not present.

On August 22, the Clare Local Development Company closed off large sections of part of the Cliffs of Moher trail and it remains closed off today due to continuing safety concerns.

In May 2024, a student in her early 20s from Belgium died after she fell from the Cliffs of Moher.