A man drowned after he was pulled under a waterfall by a current at Pontneddfechan while holidaying with friends in south Wales, an inquest has heard. Hemanta Kumar Rai, 28, from Farnborough, could not swim and had gone into the water at Sgwd Gwladys "up to his knees" when, shortly after, a friend who was with him heard him shouting for help.
The inquest, held at Pontypridd Coroners' Court, heard that Mr Rai, of Woodvale Road, Farnborough, had travelled to the waterfall with a group of friends on the final day of their holiday in south Wales on August 16, 2021, and were due to travel home that evening. A statement from Sorab Rai, who the inquest heard was a "close friend", said that he and Hemanta Rai had walked ahead of the group, arriving at the waterfall first, and that Hemanta Rai could not swim.
The statement read that Sorab Rai, who entered the water to swim, could see Hemanta Rai walking around in the water "which was just up to his knees." However, the inquest heard that when Sorab Rai turned around again, he could no longer see his friend and said he heard him shouting for help. The inquest heard that Sorab Rai could then see Hemanta Rai "struggling in the water."
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The inquest heard that when Sorab Rai went over to help, Hemanta Rai "began to panic" and pulled him under, causing Sorab Rai to lose his grip. The statement said that Hemanta Rai was pulled under the waterfall, and that Sorab Rai did not see him come back up.
When friends arrived, 999 was called, with a statement from PC Ryan Blackburn saying that he was made aware of a male drowning at 1.17pm. The inquest heard that the group of friends tied towels together to form a rope in an attempt to help Mr Rai but that he did not come back up.
PC Blackburn said that he was provided with a What Three Words location and met colleagues at the Angel Inn before heading towards the location of the group. After arriving at the scene, PC Blackburn said that the "river appeared reasonably slow moving" but that he was "unable to see below the surface level of the water". Other local police colleagues were called to the scene and the fire service was requested, who arrived "a long time later".
The inquest heard that Mr Rai's body was located under the waterfall and that local officers and the fire service conducted CPR for "some time" before South Wales Police was stood down. A statement from Constable Adam Kadiri said that he was on duty on the day when he was advised that a man had been retrieved from the water.
CPR was being performed and he was told by Sorab Rai that his friend had only gone into the water up to his knees because he could not swim. The inquest heard that the body was examined and that there were no other injuries to indicate foul play. Mr Rai's body was transferred to Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.
Mr Rai had "no significant medical history" and was not taking regularly prescribed medication at the time of his death, the inquest heard. A toxicology report found no drugs, alcohol, or ethanol in Mr Rai's system. A post-mortem conducted by Dr Jason Shannon found that there was no evidence of significant internal or external injury and that there were features consistent with immersion in water and drowning. The medical cause of death was given as drowning.
Born in Hong Kong, Mr Rai was the youngest in his family. He moved to the UK when he was 14 years old, where he completed his education in Fernhill, Farnborough, later graduating from Southampton Solent University in 2016. He was a service desk analyst for Capita.
A statement from Mr Rai's older sister, Deepa Rai, said that he had "no health or mental health problems" and that he tried to use his free time to read books, as well as jogging daily and going to the gym. Ms Rai's statement said that her younger brother was planning to run his first half marathon in August 2021.
Ms Rai's statement said that her brother was "appreciative of everything our parents did for us. He loved spending time with friends and family." Ms Rai added that her brother had plans to travel to the Himalayas. "We lost our gem," the statement read.
Rachel Knight, assistant coroner for the South Wales Central area, recorded a conclusion of accidental death. Addressing Mr Rai's family, who were present at the inquest via video link, Ms Knight added that she planned to issue a regulation 28 prevention of future death report and "ask for signage to be changed to be clearer and in plain English spelling out the danger.
"I can't stop people going in but I can make them aware of the danger and the risk," she said.
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