³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

A 20-year-old man who fled Syria to make a new life in north Wales drowned on a trip to the seaside, an inquest has heard.

Mohamad Alkadour moved to Wrexham after becoming a refugee as a child with his family first in Lebanon before being given asylum in the UK.

A hearing in Caernarfon was told he had never learned to swim and was dragged out to sea when he and friends visited Barmouth in Gwynedd in May.

His body was found almost two hours later, in what the north west Wales coroner ruled was a tragic accident.

The inquest was told he had been with his brother and friends on a trip to the Eryri National Park and decided to go to Barmouth before returning home on the late May bank holiday.

His brother Abdullah Alrawas said they agreed to go for a brief dip in the sea, and his brother was given a pair of shorts to wear by one of the group.

In a statement read out by senior coroner Kate Robertson, Mr Alrawas said he had returned to the car after a few minutes when his friend Taha Elfituri came running up the beach shouting: "I've lost him. I had his hand and then a wave took him."

In his statement, Mr Elfituri said his friend had been in the water to chest height when waves suddenly carried them out further.

"I remember panicking and trying to stay afloat," he said.

"I managed to get to the shore, and I realised I could not see Mohamad."

He said police and rescue teams who arrived had to "pull me back to stop me going into the water" again to find his friend.

The inquest was told the missing man was then found at about 19:45, almost two hours after disappearing.

He was flown to hospital in Bangor, but medics were unable to revive him.

A post-mortem examination confirmed he had drowned.

In a statement, his mother Khawla Al Naser said her son had been a quiet boy, who had done well at school despite a difficult childhood fleeing the conflict in Syria and living as refugees in Lebanon until making Wales their home.

He had trained to become a mechanic, and was working at a pizza restaurant when he died.

She said her son had never learned to swim, and had never taken an interest in learning, only occasionally visiting the local pool in Wrexham with friends, and then sticking to the shallow end.

"We are very proud of him and we miss him immensely," she said.

The coroner said the events at Barmouth were "completely unexpected and unintended by Mohamad".

Passing her condolences to the family, she said the death must have been an "immensely traumatic" event for all those involved.

She recorded a conclusion of accidental death.