World of the Bizarre

Police officer is lowered into river to retrieve man-eating crocodile

By T.K. Randall
May 4, 2026 ·  4 comments

Image: Nile Crocodile (illustrative)
Credit: Leigh Bedford / CC BY 2.0 (adapted) According to reports, the businessman had recently got into difficulties while attempting to traverse a low bridge across the Komati River in South Africa after flooding had made the crossing impassible.

When authorities found his vehicle, they discovered that nobody was inside, leaving them to believe that the man had been swept away by the floodwaters.

Desperate to find him, police teams used drones and helicopters to scour the area until eventually, they came across a small island on which a number of crocodiles were basking.

On closer inspection, it looked as though one of them had recently finished off a large meal.To find out for sure if the man had met his end in the jaws of this enormous reptile, the police teams took it out from a distance, then lowered one particularly brave officer - Captain Johan "Pottie" Potgieter - down on a rope to secure the animal and bring it back for analysis.

The huge creature was 4.5m in length and weighed around 500kg.

A preliminary examination found multiple human body parts inside the beast's stomach as well as several pairs of shoes (potentially those of other victims).

DNA testing will now be used to confirm that the remains belong to the missing businessman.


Source: BBC News | Comments (4)

Tags: Crocodile