Trinity College Dublin (TCD) has expressed ‘deep sadness’ at the loss of one their students who died after falling from a cliff in Co Clare on Friday.
The 26-year-old Indian national, who has been identified as Anand Goel, was killed after he lost his footing while taking photographs at the Cliffs of Moher.
The Indian Embassy in Dublin is working to repatriate the victim’s body back to his home country while staff at TCD are providing support to the victim’s family, friends and fellow students as well as their own staff.
Gardaí, who have been working closely with the Indian Embassy as well as staff at TCD since the accident, have confirmed that the victim has been formally identified and his family informed. The man’s name has not however been released.
A representative of the Indian Embassy is understood to have visited Co Clare yesterday and travelled to the scene of the tragedy.
The alarm was raised at around 3.15pm on Friday when a man was seen falling from the cliff. Eye-witnesses are understood to have told Gardaí that the man was taking a selfie at the time and lost his footing.
The man’s body was recovered from the sea by the crew of Rescue 115 and flown to Doolin Coast Guard station.
The victim was formally pronounced dead before his remains were removed to University Hospital Limerick for formal identification and post-mortem examination.
Gardaí interviewed a number of eye-witnesses following tragedy and have confirmed that at this stage, they are treating the death as a tragic accident.
In a Facebook post, the Indian Embassy in Ireland said: “Deeply saddened by tragic death of promising Indian student of Trinity, Anand Goel, who accidentally fell off Cliffs of Moher in county Clare yesterday. Very grateful to Irish Coast Guard/Search & Rescue helicopter and boat teams for recovering body. Heartfelt condolences to bereaved family. Their loss is our loss. Embassy assisting with all formalities.”
A Garda spokesman said: “A post-mortem examination has been carried out while we have been working closely with the Indian Embassy and Trinity College. The man has been identified and his family in India has been notified.”
In a statement today, Trinity College Dublin said: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of one of our students at the Cliffs of Moher on Friday afternoon. We are doing all we can to provide support to them following the shocking news of the accidental death of their son.
We are also reaching out to his fellow students, friends and staff here at Trinity supporting them during this distressing time. We are working closely with the Indian Embassy and An Garda Síochána in doing so.”