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| Waterfall deaths 'were accidents' | Waterfall deaths 'were accidents' |
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| Drink and drugs may have been a factor in "tragic accidents" when a man fell at a waterfall, killing him and his young daughter, an inquest has heard. | Drink and drugs may have been a factor in "tragic accidents" when a man fell at a waterfall, killing him and his young daughter, an inquest has heard. |
| The coroner said the fact that James Gallacher, 35, had consumed alcohol and cocaine may have impaired his ability to react in an emergency situation. | The coroner said the fact that James Gallacher, 35, had consumed alcohol and cocaine may have impaired his ability to react in an emergency situation. |
| He and his daughter Soraya, three, slipped and fell 50ft from a waterfall in Snowdonia, at Llanbedr, Gwynedd. | He and his daughter Soraya, three, slipped and fell 50ft from a waterfall in Snowdonia, at Llanbedr, Gwynedd. |
| The coroner recorded accidental death verdicts on the pair, from Manchester. | The coroner recorded accidental death verdicts on the pair, from Manchester. |
| The inquest at Dolgellau heard that window cleaner Mr Gallacher, his daughter Soraya, and her mother had travelled down to the campsite at Llanbedr last July to visit family who were camping, near the Nantcol waterfall beauty spot. | |
| They had had a barbecue and then gone to the pub, the inquest was told. | |
| Toxicology reports | |
| Then they had seen signs for the waterfall and decided to take a closer look and walked along the path to the falls. | |
| Mr Gallacher's sister Ellen told the hearing that Soraya had asked to be picked up. | |
| She said Mr Gallacher had picked the little girl up, turned round "and he was gone". | |
| An underwater search was launched involving police, fire and ambulance crews. assisted by two amateur divers and a heat-seeking infra-red scanner on the North Wales Police helicopter. | |
| But the pair, who were part of a family of four adults and two children holidaying at the nearby Shell Island campsite, were found dead around an hour after they fell. | |
| The inquest also heard that toxicology reports show Mr Gallacher had more than the legal drink-drive limit of alcohol in his blood and that he had taken cocaine. | |
| His family were asked when he has taken the drug, but they said they did not know. | |
| Recording his verdicts, North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said the alcohol and cocaine consumption may have impaired Mr Gallacher's ability tor react. | |
| But he said that, sadly, slipping and falling was all too common on Snowdonia footpaths. |