Heartbroken dad speaks out after son, 25, dies in fall from hotel balcony
A British tourist who died after falling from his hotel balcony in Malta has been officially named and pictured.
Police rushed to a hotel in St Julian, Malta, on Friday morning and discovered the body of a lifeless man on the ground outside the building. A medical team rushed to the tragic site at Triq Spinola, on the east of the island, but the 25-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. Police in the UK confirmed the dead Brit was from Gwynedd, in northern Wales.
Police temporarily blocked the Triq Spinola road, outside the hotel, to traffic earlier on Friday morning. The road was reopened after the man's body was removed from the scene. A probe into the fatal incident was launched by cops and the results of a preliminary investigation said the British man could have fallen off his balcony at the hotel at around 4.15am, according to the Times of Malta.
Police in Malta have named the man who tragically died in the fall as Keiran Thomas, 25, from Bangor, north Wales.
Mr Thomas' heartbroken father, Alan Hughes, told the BBC that the family were thankful for the supportive messages they had received from members of the public. He also shared that his son, who had a twin brother, was working as a software engineer at the time of his death, with 'a promising career ahead of him'.
Welsh MP Sian Gwenllian, who represents Arfon, spoke on the tragedy and said the death was "truly devastating, in a statement. She said: "News of the death of a 25-year-old from Gwynedd in Malta is truly devastating. The pain his family must be experiencing is unimaginable. My thoughts, and those of the people of Gwynedd, are with them in their grief."
MP Liz Saville Roberts, who represents Dwyfor Meirionnydd, also shared a statement. She said: "Heartbreaking news. My heart goes out to the young man's family at this extremely difficult time."
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are in contact with the local authorities regarding the death of a British man in Malta." Malta Police's investigations into the tragic fall, which occurred at the Cavalieri Art Hotel, remain ongoing.
St Julian's is a popular tourist town on the east of the island of Malta. It's known for beaches like Balluta Bay, a rocky stretch with a promenade and restaurants. Bars and nightclubs line the streets of Paceville, an area south of St. George's Bay Beach and the historic capital, Valletta, is also nearby.
Malta's capital, Valletta, is 20 minutes' drive down the coast. It's home to the magnificent Grand Master's Palace, now partly an armoury museum, and the 16th-century cathedral – its high-vaulted ceiling covers a mosaic-tiled floor. The Upper Barrakka Garden offers views across town to the Medieval harbour.
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