Mohananeethan "Mohan" Muruganantharajah was visiting a waterfall with his family in Wales when the tragic incident occurred

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Mohananeethan Muruganantharajah, 27, died after saving his two nieces who fell into a waterfall in Wales in September 2023
Muruganantharajah's body wasn't recovered until the following day
A coroner ruled his death an accident at a recent inquest, according to BBC News

The cause of death for a 27-year-old man who died after saving his two nieces who fell into a waterfall in Wales has been revealed.

At around 4:40 p.m. local time on Sept.1, 2023, police were called to Sgwd y Pannwr waterfall in the Brecon Beacons — which is around 40 miles north of the Welsh capital, Cardiff — after a man had “gone into the water to rescue two children and not come out,” Wales Online reported, citing the Dyfed-Powys Police.

Mohananeethan "Mohan" Muruganantharajah, 27, had been on a family day out at the falls when some family members “decided to enter the water as the weather was pleasant” and a number of them “got into some difficulty,” BBC News reported.

At an inquest into Muruganantharajah's death, Coroner Patricia Morgan said, per the outlet, “He assisted them to safety. However, sadly Mohananeethan was pulled under the water and did not resurface. Emergency services attended but were unable to rescue Mohananeethan.”

According to police, Mohananeethan's body was located in the water with an underwater camera shortly after 7:00 p.m. that same night, however he could not be recovered until the next morning "due to conditions at the site," per Wales Online.

Mohananeethan was recovered from the water and pronounced dead on Sept. 2, 2023, per BBC News and Wales Online.

The coroner ruled his death an accident at the inquest, per the outlets.

A previous hearing revealed that Muruganantharajah became trapped under a ledge and was dragged under the falls, per Wales Online.

Sri Lankan-born Muruganantharajah was a qualified pilot from Swansea, according to reports.

His niece Vaishnavi Senthurkumaran told BBC News that her uncle had "escorted everyone down to the water one by one” to swim before tragedy struck.

"One of my sisters didn't feel safe in the water and everyone came over to help her," she said. "At that moment, the current was pulling us in towards the waterfall. My uncle came in to pull us out one by one."

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"I could see his hands slipping into the water. We thought he was doing some sort of trick like he does in the sea, going underwater and grabbing our legs,” Senthurkumaran recalled. She said she then called her family for help.

"My mother can't swim so she was throwing anything she could find into the water," Senthurkumaran told BBC News. "There were a few doctors in the area who tried to help where they could, then the paramedics turned up."