AN IRISH student has died in a tragic accident in Thailand after falling through a shopping mall roof.
21-year-old Stephen Timothy Clifford, who was from Carryduff in Co Down, fell from the roof of the closed Kad Suan Kaew shopping mall in the city of Chiang Mai on Sunday.
According to media reports in Thailand, Mr Clifford had been drinking at a pub in the city in the north of the country late on Sunday night.
He was reported to have got into a verbal argument with a female friend at around 5am on Sunday before being seen on CCTV footage arguing with another man just over an hour later.
Police in Thailand say that Mr Clifford tried to get into the shopping mall by jumping fences and then getting on the roof.
According to reports, the roof over the electricity room could not hold his weight.
He appears to have fallen through the roof from the first floor and died upon impact with the electrical generator machinery at ground level.
A security guard told Thai police that he saw two “foreigners” standing next to the mall shortly before the tragedy. He said both men looked drunk.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London have confirmed to the Belfast Telegraph that they are providing assistance to Mr Clifford’s family.
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