LONDON – A UK-based Indian-origin financial expert drowned after going overboard during a prank gone wrong while on a stag party river cruise he organised for his friend in Portugal, a court here has heard.
Nishanthan Gnanathas, who was the best man at his friend’s wedding, hit his head on a wire balustrade when he was pushed from a yacht into the River Tagus in Lisbon as part of a prank in July this year.
“I accept the cause of death as immersion in water. My final conclusion is that I am entirely satisfied that this was misadventure,” said Coroner Fiona Wilcox at an inquest hearing into his death at Westminster Coroner’s Court on Wednesday.
“I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that whatever happened was very quick and that Nish suffered some sort of physical shock and suffered respiratory arrest and couldn’t breath because of the water. What happened must have been very sharp and very sudden. He was a young, fit man and had been able to jump off the pier in similar circumstances the day before,” she said.
According to ‘The Sun’, the 31-year-old was part of a group of 13 friends during the party cruise in July to celebrate Youseff Ismail’s wedding the previous year.
“Nish was my best man. He organised the trip to go to Portugal as a stag do. Nish ended up in the water and hit his head on the way in. Everyone was like ‘oooh’. I jumped in, so did Andre, but we couldn’t find him. I think we were on our first beer,” Ismail told the court.
“We half expected him to be messing around to be honest with you,” he said.
Andre van Eck, the friend who pushed the victim into the water, told the court, “We had horseplay all the time. We had no intention for anyone to get hurt.”
Explaining why Gnanathas was to be thrown overboard first, Van Eck said, “He was the best man. When we went to restaurants and the food was late, it was Nish’s fault.”
Gnanathas’ family had to wait for six days before his body was recovered from the water after a major sea and air search involving police boats and a helicopter.
Lisbon Maritime police chief Malaquais Dominguez said at the time, “I am satisfied that it was a stupid joke between friends. He was pushed and he went overboard. He disappeared in the water. I have no doubt they will live with this terrible moment for the rest of their lives and that it was an accident and there was absolutely no intention to cause the missing man any harm.”
