Swimming warning after boy, 13 dies in river

The death of a 13-year-old boy has led to a warning about the dangers of children swimming in rivers.

Aryan Ghoniya got into difficulty while swimming with four friends in the River Taff in Cardiff in 2022.

At an inquest into his death at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court on Tuesday, evidence from his friends was read out by assistant coroner David Regan.

He concluded Aryan’s death was an accident, after hearing he was “not a confident swimmer”.

The inquest was told how Aryan, a pupil at Radyr Comprehensive School, was very “bright” and had a following on TikTok after posting a video naming 109 countries which gained more than a million hits.

Another video showed him completing a Rubik’s cube in 38 seconds.

In a statement, Aryan’s family described him as “a kind, polite, mature boy who was top of his class sets at school” and was due to take his GCSE maths two years early.

The court heard emergency services were called to the River Taff at about 16:45 BST on 21 June 2022 after reports of children in the water and a missing boy near Forest Farm Road in Whitchurch.

Aryan was described as a very bright student, as well as a “kind, polite, mature boy”

Aryan’s body was found following an extensive search by the police, fire service, ambulance, coastguard and the police helicopter.

The coroner confirmed the cause of death as immersion in the water and confirmed there was no evidence of injury.

One of Aryan’s friends described in a statement how they had started in the shallow part of the river but said “Aryan got a bit nervous and started to panic” because of the drops on the riverbed and its depth.

“He started splashing and panicking in the water. I tried to help but couldn’t and had to swim back,” he said in the statement.

Evidence from dog walker Janine Jones was read out in court, which said she saw two boys in the water including Aryan.

He was described as still being in his clothes and looking “cautious” in the water.

She said another boy was encouraging him to go deeper into the river, but added that children would often play in the river on hot days and she was not overly concerned.

Assistant coroner Mr Regan said: “While there was no significant current on this day, rivers can still present dangers from unseen debris on the riverbed.”

He added that the cold temperature, lack of water visibility and having no adults present were dangers for children swimming in rivers.