‘Huge Puddle’ Caused Student, 20, to Fall to Her Death from Ocean Cliffs in Front of Her Friends

The death of 20-year-old University of Edinburgh student Roxan Bastaens, who fell from the Cliffs of Moher last year, has been officially ruled “accidental.”

Bastaens slipped near a “huge puddle” at the edge of the cliff in Ireland, according to reports from the BBC, RTÉ, and The Irish Times.

“Unfortunately, we have a number of deaths at the Cliffs of Moher each year, and this was an absolute accident,” coroner Isobel O’Dea told the Clare Coroner’s Court in Kilrush, County Clare, during a hearing on Friday, Sept. 26.

O’Dea added that Bastaens, who was three weeks away from her 21st birthday, died from polytrauma caused by multiple injuries sustained during the fall, which occurred in May 2024. She also noted that Bastaens’ death “would have been instantaneous and she wouldn’t have suffered,” as reported by the BBC and RTÉ.

Eyewitness testimonies from Bastaens’ friends, who were not present at the inquest, were read out by Garda Inspector Ronan McMahon.

Bastaens had gone on the hike with three female friends on May 4, 2024, after arriving the night before the incident, according to The Irish Times.

Italian student Guilia Bracchi, one of the friends, described the trail: “The trail was protected at the beginning but later on it got slippery and there was no barrier. We all had hiking boots on. It was not difficult.”

Bracchi explained that the friends were walking in single file towards a “big puddle” at around 1:00 p.m. local time.

“I had seen lots of people walking in exactly the same way before us,” she said.

She continued, “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 went out of sight.”

French student Catherine Didier, who was walking in front of Bastaens, recalled, “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. I didn’t want to look over the edge.”

Didier added, “We started calling people for help and we called the emergency services.”

Student Prune Dussud also recalled the suddenness of the incident: “One second Roxan was there and the next she was gone. 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.”

A Royal National Lifeboat Institution boat recovered Bastaens’ body at 3:10 p.m. local time, according to the BBC. Tests confirmed that alcohol or drugs were not involved.

Family members who attended the inquest were informed they could visit the Cliffs of Moher but would not be allowed at the exact location of the fall, which has been closed to the public since August 2024, per RTÉ. “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,” McMahon told them.