A 20-yr-old University of Edinburgh student tragically fell to her death after slipping while trying to navigate around a ‘huge puddle’ on a muddy section of trail near the edge of the Cliffs of Moher in May 2024, an inquest has heard, reports Breaking News.
During Friday’s hearing at Clare Coroner’s Court in Kilrush, three university friends of Roxan Bastaens provided statements describing her final moments before the fatal fall at one of Ireland’s most visited scenic sites.
Ms Bastaens was only a few weeks away from her 21st birthday, which she would have celebrated in June last year, reports Breaking News.
Delivering the inquest findings, County Coroner Isobel O’Dea concluded that Ms Bastaens’s death near Hag’s Head was an ‘accidental death’.
Ms Bastaens’s family travelled to Kilrush to attend the proceedings, reports Breaking News.
Ms O’Dea told the family: “Unfortunately, we have a number of deaths at the Cliffs of Moher each year and this was an absolute accident.”
She explained that the post-mortem examination determined Ms Bastaens died from polytrauma resulting from a fall from height.
She added that her passing “would have been instantaneous and she wouldn’t have suffered”, reports Breaking News.
This was the second accidental death at the Cliffs of Moher recorded in 2024.
On July 23rd, 2024, 12-year-old Zhihan Zhao also slipped near the edge after stepping in a puddle and fell to his death.
Regarding Ms Bastaens’s fall, the inquest was told that she and four other students — two French, one Italian, and herself, a Belgian national — were studying at the University of Edinburgh and had arrived in Doolin the night before to go hiking, reports Breaking News.
Italian student Guilia Bracchi was directly behind Ms Bastaens when the accident occurred.
Although the three witnesses were not present in Kilrush, Ms Bracchi’s statement to gardaí was read during the inquest. In it, she described encountering a “big puddle” along the trail as they walked south toward Hag’s Head, away from the main Cliffs of Moher visitor area, reports Breaking News.
The group had been walking for about an hour before they stopped for lunch around noon, continuing on afterward. Ms Bracchi noted, “the trail was protected at the beginning, but later on it got slippery and there was no barrier”.
She said the weather was stable, adding, “We all had hiking boots on. It was not difficult,” reports Breaking News.
Around 1pm on Saturday, May 4th, 2024, the group walked single file toward ‘the big puddle’, with Roxan and Catherine Didier ahead.
Ms Bracchi said: “I had seen lots of people walking in exactly the same way before us,” reports Breaking News.
“There were hundreds of people on the Cliffs. The impression was that the trail was safe”, reports Breaking News.
She recalled Roxan holding her camera and carefully watching her steps as she attempted to walk around the puddle.
She said Roxan’s foot moved toward the muddier side of the trail, “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 said, reports Breaking News.
Ms Bracchi added that shortly afterward, she could see Roxan’s body lying face down in the water below.
Catherine Didier, a student from France walking just ahead of Roxan, said that at the puddle, “we walked in a single line on the cliff side of the puddle”, reports Breaking News.
She said: “I walked past the puddle no problem. I balanced and I didn’t slip – I had to be careful. When I passed the puddle I turned around and I saw Roxan slipping off the edge. I tried to lean towards her to catch her but she was too far away – I got an awful fright, I started panicking,” reports Breaking News.
“I didn’t want to look over the edge so I didn’t want to see her fall into the water. Then we started calling people for help and we called the emergency services,” reports Breaking News.
The fourth student, Prune Dussud, said they also approached “a huge puddle, we came to walk on the cliff side of the puddle”.
“At this point I was looking down at my feet. I heard my friend Guilia gasp. When I looked up I was aware that Roxan had fallen. Everything had happened so quickly. I am not sure how it happened. One second Roxan was there, and the next she was gone,” she said, reports Breaking News.
Garda Sarah Tubritt stated that she received notification of a female falling from the Cliffs of Moher at 1:25pm.
Ms Bastaens’s body was retrieved from the sea at 3:10pm by the RNLI crew from the Aran Islands. The remains were then brought to the Doolin Coast Guard station, where Ms Bastaens was officially pronounced dead.
The R1115 Coast Guard helicopter also joined the recovery mission, and Garda Tubritt said the fall happened near Hag’s Head, close to Slattery’s Quarry, reports Breaking News.
Insp Ronan McMahon offered to escort Ms Bastaens’s family to the cliffs following the inquest.
He said: “Ye won’t be able to go to the exact spot as it is fenced off. It is very hard to explain to you about the height of the cliffs and the terrain there,” reports Breaking News.
Ms O’Dea confirmed that toxicology reports showed no presence of alcohol or drugs in Ms Bastaens’s system.
On August 22nd last year, the Clare Local Development Company shut down major parts of the Cliffs of Moher trail. These areas remain inaccessible due to ongoing safety risks.
At the time, the company stated the closures were a direct response to the two recent fatal accidents on the Cliffs of Moher trail, reports Breaking News.
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