A footballer has been devoured by a crocodile after taking a dip at a popular swimming spot.
Shocking images show the large reptile swimming through the water with the victim’s body in its jaws.
Another clip shows the crocodile being shot dead in the water before locals carry its victim’s body to the riverbank.
Jesus Alberto Lopez Ortiz, nicknamed “Chucho”, was killed by the reptile on Saturday, it has been revealed by The Sun.
The 29-year-old footballer was attacked by the crocodile while cooling off in the river in Rio Cañas in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica.
Locals followed the reptile in a canoe – but a statement by local police said it was their officers who killed the crocodile.
Lopez was a footballer for amateur side Deportivo Río Cañas, as well as a dad to two children aged eight and three.
His distraught family have now appealed to the public to help pay for the player’s funeral costs, while his team manager Luis Carlos Montes is also organising a collection.
The player’s club paid tribute, saying: “With deep sorrow we make public the death of our player Jesús López Ortiz that God enjoys.
“Rest in peace, Chucho – we join the pain of all his family.
Costa Rica’s ministry of environment and energy bans hunting or killing protected animals including crocodiles.
Tributes have been paid to Costa Rican footballer Jesus Alberto Lopez Ortiz whose body could be seen in the jaws of the crocodile. Photo: Jam Press and Jam Press Video.
But local police decided they had permission under the central American country’s wildlife laws “to free the body from the jaws of the reptile” and shoot the crocodile dead.
In a statement, they said: “It should be clarified that all efforts were made to rescue the body of the deceased person without causing damage to the reptile, which was not possible.”
Last November a 12ft crocodile tore off the head of an eight-year-old boy Julio Otero Fernández in Costa Rica while he was on a fishing trip with his horrified family.
Later that month a hunter tracked the suspected predator and shot it dead before fleeing the scene.
Recently Australia had its own crocodile terror with dozens of tourists forced to flee the waters of a Northern Territory national park swimming hole after a man was attacked by a crocodile last month.
— This story originally appeared on thesun.co.uk