A dad-of-three drowned after falling from his jet ski in Africa, a coroner has said. Iwan Gwyn, 49, is originally from Llanaelhaearn in north Wales but had lived in Ghana for more than nine years.
An inquest into his death, held in Caernarfon, heard that Mr Gwyn died as a result of "asphyxiation or drowning" with a "blunt head injury" as a secondary factor. He was said to be spending time with his friends and family at the time of the incident.
Businessman Mr Gwyn decided to take his jet ski out on the Volta River in Alorkpem shortly before 6pm on December 30. At first, he could be seen riding up and down the river but then the family noticed that they could no longer see him.
Sadly, two hours later, Mr Gwyn's body was discovered in the water by two fishermen. His body was taken to Ghana police hospital where an post-mortem was carried out.
A provisional cause of death was given as "asphyxiation or drowning and blunt head injury". Speaking during the inquest, assistant senior coroner Sarah Riley confirmed that the head injury was not the direct cause of Mr Gwyn's death.
She said: "The direct cause of death was drowning. Iwan had been enjoying time with friends and family when he went out on his jetski. Sometime later they noticed they could no longer see Iwan, and he was discovered some hours later unresponsive by local fishermen. He suffered an unwitnessed fall from the jet ski and hit his head during or after the fall.
"His death was both unexpected and unintended. I have concluded that Mr Gwyn's death was accidental."
His brother Dafydd described Mr Gwyn's death as a "huge loss". He said: "The family would like to thank everyone who has been in touch to express their sympathies during this very sad time. ‘Fydd colled enfawr ar ei ol’."
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