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SRI LANKAN POLICE have found the body of a 24-year-old British journalist, Paul McClean, who is suspected to have been killed by a crocodile.
Divers found McClean’s corpse in the mud of a lagoon in the coastal village of Panama, 360 km east of the capital Colombo by road, a police spokesman said.
“There were six or seven wounds on his right leg,” a police official told AFP by telephone.
“The body was stuck in mud at about the same place where he was seen last by some others who were with him.”
A crocodile is believed to have dragged McClean away yesterday afternoon, the officer said, but a post-mortem examination later Friday would formally establish the cause of death.
British media reports said McClean, who worked for the Financial Times, was holidaying in Sri Lanka with friends.
He was on a beach and had wandered away to find a toilet when he stumbled into an area known to be infested with crocodiles.
Other holidaymakers in the area alerted police after McClean disappeared and a search was mounted with the help of navy divers.
Crocodile attacks are rare in Sri Lanka. However, earlier this month, wildlife authorities reported that a crocodile had seriously injured a wild elephant in the south of the island.
During monsoon floods in May, authorities warned people in inundated areas to beware of stray crocodiles.
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What a horrible way to die. It is so easy not to be aware of specific risks when a tourist.
@Fiona deFreyne: more victim blaming. why should he have needed to be aware of the risks? He was clearly entitled to swim there. The crocodile is entirely to blame for his predatory action.
@Sean: did you read the article at all before you decided to deliberately misinterpret fionas comment so as to get a completely unrelated and might I add stupid point across? He wasn’t swimming.,
@Sean: “more victim blaming” what’s that supposed to mean? Fiona said it’s easy not to be aware of dangers as a tourist. Are you comparing this to George Hook’s comments? If so your trivialising the latter.
@Sean: Did you read the article? He wandered off into, possibly unknowingly, Croc infested waters, looking for a toilet. I think Fiona makes a valid enough point there on knowing the specific risks when going to foreign countries and always be that more vigilant etc, it’s not victim blaming or anything like that but I wouldn’t wander off alone into an area with Crocs in the water, horrible way to die for the poor man I’m sure.
@Sean:
Ha. Clever response.
@Dave Murray: like knowing the risks of getting drunk and going back to a strangers house? (Whether you be man or woman)..those type of risks?
@Sean: haha lovely response. the perfect metaphor
@Sean: learn to read!
I remember being in Australia in 2002 when a person was killed by a crocodile in Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territories. This is how I heard it reported on radio: ‘A German tourist, who ignored warning signs, has been killed by a crocodile…..’. Talk about victim blaming!
@Jumperoo: Did they ignore the signs to swim in Croc infested waters? If so, then that’s just stating a fact of what happened, no? Swim in Croc infested waters and there’s a good chance you will meet a Croc.
@Jumperoo: …..therefore you are now free to remove the that towel from the sun lounger….
@Dave Murray: yes, there were signs there, so yes, it’s ‘just’ stating a fact. But sometimes it’s the way you state facts that matters. For example, saying ‘a woman who had too much to drink and went to the home of a man she’d just met was later raped’ would also be ‘just’ stating a fact. But I think we’ve seen this past week that can’t ‘just state facts’ that way…
@Dave Murray: and back to the Aussie croc story. Maybe it wasn’t even a ‘fact’ to say the tourist ignored warning sings. She might not even have seen them. But by reporting it that way, the local radio station was basically saying ‘stupid foreign Sheila, it was her own fault.’
A more sympathetic way of reporting the story would have been ‘tragedy struck when….etc. etc…and while there are warning signs in the area, it is not known if the victim saw them.’
@Jumperoo: if i remember right there were two tourists who went swimming in the billabong as the tour guide told them it was ok to do so, then one got killed. There were signs at that one, but they may have been put up after the tragedy….if that is the same incident we are thinking about
@Sideshow Brendan: That’s exactly the one. The investigation later discovered that a tour guide had told the group not to worry too much about the signs. But my point is that when the radio station reported the incident at first, before any of this was established, they couldn’t have known anything at that stage about whether signs were seen, unseen, ignored, or disregarded.
Snap
And where are the thumbs down buttons. Is this more snowflakeology?
Mustn’t have been the right flavour surprised the croc didn’t devour him.
@Gordon Jono Power: is the croc ok?
@Gordon Jono Power: I was lead to believe that typically crocs like to bury their food for a while before consuming same. Hence playing dead is often considered a strategy to survive. I’m open to correction.
@D O’S: yes I wondered that I think bears do the same.
@Gordon Jono Power: And squirrels like to bury their nuts!
@D O’S: led vs lead
@Tony Hannon: when i said i was open to correction…….. ok, fai cop!
What the fup. First time I have logged onto journal in ages… I see its gone into total moron territory
Didn’t eat him because those where Islamic Crocodiles,no Alcohol.
Well that’s Sri Lanka off my list. Allowing wild animals to roam freely when they should be locked up!
@Anne Marie Devlin: I believe I hear strains of “Born Free” in the background…
The Crocs in Sri Lanka that I saw weren’t that big. Fantastic country. Unlucky for this chap.
@Minom Pnom: how big does one have to be to chomp on your leg?
@Michael Burke: from other accounts he was pulled under the water. I imagine a fair-sized one required in that case
Ouch , daddy I bumped my head.
Aw silly sausage , are you ok?
Stop victim blaming me daddy…
Man goes into a marshy lagoon area in a country known for its rampant wildlife, encounters a native, wild animal who is stronger, more primal and more powerful than the average human, who kills him and everyone says this is victim blaming? The man was an idiot to wander into the lagoon, as anyone with two brain cells knows that tropical marshy lands = crocs.
Humans have become awful complacent with being the “superior species” because we invented the wheel and advanced to industry and technology and put animals in cages – a crocodile’s bite is still stronger than a great white shark’s and an alligator’s combined, and will make a quick job of killing a human foolish enough to enter its territory. This is not victim blaming, it’s fact. Watch Planet Earth and see what happens when one species of animal encounters a stronger, more vicious one.
An awful tragedy, and an awful way to go. Hopefully other travelers will heed the warning and stay away from risky areas.
@Rachel: your post covers all the bases.
This is no different than those who ignore the shark warnings off the coast of Recife, Brazil, and are attacked. It’s a tragedy for the man and his surviving family members, but to blame the animal is total hogwash.
Awful way to go. Read that the crocodile hit his body .
If you feed a crocodile it will keep coming back for more.
It can hardly be described as infested when its there natural habitat!!
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