A toddler drowned on a family fishing trip in Wiltshire after being left alone for one minute
14 October 2022, 02:51
A toddler drowned during a family trip after he was left by himself near a lake for just a minute, an inquest has heard.
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Melvin Gurung, 1, had spent the day running around playing as his family caught trout at a premier fishery.
When his uncle needed to use the toilet, he told the young boy to remain outside it - but a minute later he had vanished.
Melvin's panicked family immediately began searching for him, but his healthcare worker mother Menuka and ex-Army father Bikash couldn't locate him.
Only minutes later, a plain clothes police officer who had been passing the site, screamed out, "No, no!" when he spotted the youngster's red boots in a lake hidden by 4ft-high reeds, and quickly pulled him out.
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But sadly it was too late and the child, who was just 10 days away from his second birthday, died.
Today a coroner ruled his death after the tragedy at Manningford Trout Fishery in Pewsey, Wiltshire, on November 14 2021, as an accident.
The inquest heard the youngster and four members of his Nepalese family had travelled to fish at the farm which they had visited regularly, from their home in Farnborough, Hampshire.
A worker at the fishing site said during the afternoon the boy was running around playing and was a "happy little boy".
At around 4pm, the boy's parents Mr and Mrs Gurung went to fish at a nearby lake on the site and left their son playing with a relative, Amrit Gurung, who was described as "like an uncle".
Amrit told the inquest: "I played with him a bit and then we went to the toilet.
"He was playing outside and I picked him up and told him I was going to the toilet and to wait there and that I would not be long.
"I was inside for a minute or so."
Worried, Amrit woke Melvin's uncle Nayan, who was sleeping in the car.
Nayan told the hearing: "I fell asleep for 10 minutes and woke up to Amrit.
"He said, 'I think Melvin got lost, we should go look for him'.
"I was shocked... At that time I don't think I fully understood the gravity of the situation, I thought he was hiding in the woods or had been kidnapped."
He said the boy's parents "started panicking" when they rushed to tell them.
The toddler's dad Bikash said he'd only been fishing at another lake for 10 minutes when he learned of the disappearance.
He then instantly got into his car and scoured the main road looking for his Melvin, then searched with DC Barratt and PC Jeremy Horner when they arrived on the scene minutes later, having been on patrol in the area.
DC Barratt - who had knowledge of the area - noticed Melvin submerged in the water.
Bikash told the hearing: "He was just below the surface and was camouflaged by the tall reeds.
"He looked normal to me, just as beautiful as he always did. I said [to paramedics] take him to a warm place."
Paramedics tended to the boy and he was airlifted to Salisbury District Hospital, Wiltshire, but he was later pronounced dead.
Today, coroner Ian Singleton concluded that Melvin’s death had been caused by accidental drowning.
