Horrifying moment tourist, 19, teeters on hotel roof before slipping and falling 50ft to his death in Phuket
THIS is the horrifying moment a tourist, 19, teeters on a hotel roof before slipping and falling 50ft to his death in Phuket.
Joshua James Connell, 19, was seen on CCTV walking along a wall at the side of the swimming pool at a resort in the Thai party city on Wednesday afternoon.
Footage showed him throwing his hands in the air and tip-toeing along a narrow white rail while balancing.
However, moments later the young Aussie backpacker reached the end of the rail then slipped – plunging around 50ft to his death.
Shocked locals heard a loud thud and found Joshua on the tin roof of a cafe below the hotel at around 5:45pm local time.
Joshua was rushed to the hospital but pronounced dead shortly after due to the severe injuries suffered in the fall.
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Resident Ning Tanyaporn said: “I had just opened my shop and I heard a loud thunder sound. I thought a car had crashed or there was an explosion in their kitchen.
“People gathered around the restaurant and saw the foreign man on the roof. He was unconscious so someone called an ambulance. Everyone was shocked that he fell down and died.”
Police Lieutenant Colonel Kokiat Boonplod said officers received the emergency call about a foreign man who had fallen from a hotel.
They arrived at the scene shortly after 5:50 pm local time and Joshua was taken to hospital where he was confirmed dead.
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Police Lieutenant Colonel Kokiat, who is leading the investigation, said: “The deceased fell from the hotel adjacent to the restaurant, wearing shorts and without a shirt.
“The roof of the restaurant hut was shattered and several tiles were on the floor. The deceased’s legs were twisted and he had wounds on his head.”
The policeman said officers had reviewed CCTV from the hotel and do not believe anybody else was involved in the death.
Officers are now interviewing hotel staff about Joshua’s behaviour leading up to the incident and why he was climbing on the wall.
His body is undergoing an autopsy at the Patong Hospital.
Police have informed the Australian Embassy who are in contact with Joshua’s family.
Patong is the most vibrant district of Phuket and home to the province’s bustling 24-hour adult nightlife.
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Last month on May 17, Australian Billy James Simmons, 22, fell to his death form a hotel on the same island. Officers found drugs and alcohol in his room.
While on May 31, webcam model Evgenia Smirnova, 37, from Russia, 37, plunged from an eighth-floor balcony of a hotel in Phuket in the early hours of the morning.