Backpackerdied in Goa beach hut fire

Backpacker Mark Richards, pictured, was sleeping on an idyllic beach in Goa when the tragedy happened.

It is thought the seasoned traveller fell asleep and left a lit candle stuck in the sand that toppled on to his bed.

But the 41-year-old, who was born and raised in Gosport, was alone at the time and no one knows for sure what happened. He was taken to the nearest hospital '“ three hours away '“ but died from his injuries two days later on January 3, 2007.

At an inquest, coroner David Horsley said: 'We'll never know exactly what happened but he was very severely burnt.

'It's amazing that he survived that journey into hospital and then two days after that. It wouldn't have made any difference if he had been right next to the hospital or if he was in England '“ it would have had no effect at all.'

A friend visited the country to try to find out what had happened but the beach hut had been washed away by the monsoon. Mr Richards had moved to India only three months before the accident.

The factory worker spent six months of the year working in England saving money to spend the rest of his time travelling. It was his third trip to India.

After his death fellow backpackers held a service in his memory on the beach where he had died.

At Portsmouth Coroner's Court mum Jean Richards, of Stanley Close, Gosport, said: 'He loved travelling.

'The only consolation is that he died in the place he loved best. But when you are a mother it is from the cradle to the grave, and you never want to think of them suffering.'

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.