Tourist killed by shark or crocodile as drones deployed to determine which beast

20 December 2023 , 21:17

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Jozef 'Jeff' Bynens, from Hasselt, Belgium who was bitten to death (Image: CEN)

Cops have deployed drones to try and identify if a shark or a crocodile killed a tourist and injured at least one other person.

Joseph 'Jeff' Bynens, 76, was swimming when he suddenly vanished from sight on the beach of Ixtapa in Mexico on Thursday morning. When he was carried out of the water, at least one of his legs had reportedly been torn off. It was initially reported it was a shark but the injuries led police to suspect that it could have been a crocodile that caused his death.

There is a crocodile farm in the area and crocodiles have been known to visit the beach. Marine biologists suspect that the nature of the injury indicates it is highly probable he was attacked by a crocodile, Zihuatanejo Mayor Jorge Sanchez Alec said. Tourists were previously alerted to a crocodile’s presence at Palmar Beach in central Ixtapa, and visitors to nearby La Ropa Beach recently reported seeing something in the sea at Zihuatanejo Bay.

Photo shows the beach after the tragedy (CEN)

Paramedics from the Secretariat of Comprehensive Risk Management and Civil Protection have confirmed that they are trying to identify the animal that attacked the two people, killing one of them on the beach of the Club Med hotel on the "Quieta" beach in the municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azueta.

They said that the dead man suffered horrific injuries to his lower body and lifeguards have banned people from going into the water while the search goes on. Purple flags have been erected to indicate the presence of something dangerous in the water. According to several reports, the attack on the elderly man occurred at about 9:15 am, just minutes after Valerie Haurowitz, 52, from Los Angeles, California, was similarly attacked. She is reportedly in a stable condition.

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The attacks come 10 days after a 26-year-old woman died after a shark attack in Melaque, Jalisco. In 2019, an American tourist was the victim of an attack in Troncones, just north of Zihuatanejo, and in 2008, a series of attacks in the region killed one tourist and one local.

Rachel Hagan