British backpacker drowns in Cambodia
A young British backpacker drowned in Cambodia after he was dragged underwater while using an inflatable rubber ring.
Steven Griffiths, 21, from Somerset, was last seen desperately waving his arms for help as he struggled in water in the Kampot district of southern Cambodia.
The non-swimmer had jumped into the river with friends, moments before he found himself losing a battle to survive.
Steven Griffiths, 21, from Somerset, drowned in Cambodia after he was dragged underwater while using an inflatable rubber ring
Mr Griffiths (left, with a friend) was last seen desperately waving his arms for help as he struggled in water in the Kampot district of southern Cambodia.
Mr Griffiths, who had been travelling Asia as a barman, is understood to have slipped through the rubber ring and was pulled under the surface.
Onlookers said they saw his hands sticking out of the water before he was swept away by the river, outside the High Tide guesthouse.
Mr Griffiths' father, also called Steve, said he was 'broken beyond words'.
The father-of-three said: 'Steven had a young brother and younger sister who absolutely adored him. They're distraught, I'm distraught, his friends and work colleagues are. Everyone who knew him is devastated.
'How is someone supposed to come to terms with this? My son has just died, he was only 21. I can't even process what has happened.
'We had lost contact for a number of years after me and his mother separated. But he came back into my life and we were close, like any father and son.
'He couldn't swim. What on earth he was doing in a river I don't know. Even on holiday in Tenerife he would only go in the shallow end.
Mr Griffiths had been travelling Asia for a number of months as a barman
'Who the hell let him go in the water? What was he doing in that situation and why did nobody stop him? These are answers we'll never know. Right now I can't accept that he just drowned like that, as he couldn't even swim.'
Friend Rowan Steele, who had been travelling with Mr Griffiths, told police he had used the inflatable rings a number of times before.
A source at the hotel said it had been raining at the time and recent downpours had swelled the fast-flowing river and made the current stronger.
They said: 'Steven had been here for about two weeks.
'That morning he was happy, floating with the inflatable air bags. He had just been drinking a coffee at breakfast.
'Out of nowh ere he sank into the water and just his hands were waving for help. Two staff jumped in to help but unfortunately it was too late. The flow of the water was strong. Steven was washed away in the vast water surface.'
Inflatable black tubes are popular among tourists in South East Asia who use them to float in rivers.
The hotel had a number of them available for guests to use and a small bamboo raft attached by a rope that guests could sit on.
Police arrived a short time later and recovered the body some 10 metres from the guesthouse.Â
Mr Griffiths was hauled ashore and covered in a white sheet as locals said prayers and lit candles and incense sticks.
Friends and family are heartbroken by Mr Griffiths' death, with his father Steven saying he was he was 'broken beyond words'
Officers later identified the traveller with his passport and other documents.
A Kompat Police Station statement said: 'The incident was reported at 9.40am on 13 July 2017. The foreign male Steven Griffiths, male, born on June 11, 1996, British, drowned at Kampot river at the guest house named High Tide. Security forces searched for the victim.
'The victim had come to stay for two weeks. We have identified his passport number.
'The Office of Immigration has contacted the British Embassy to take the body to be returned to take home to the victim's family.'
Colleague Rit Caem from the CoCo Boutique Resort on Koh Rong said: 'It happened in the morning where h e lived in Kampot City. He moved there recently.
'We just had the news today and we're really sad. Steven was a great guy.
'He had been working here for about three months. Everybody knew him. We don't have any more details yet about how it happened.'
A Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: 'We are offering assistance to the family of a British man who has died in Cambodia, and are in contact with the Cambodian authorities.'Â
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