A man, yet to be officially identified, in an apparent drunken stupor decided to take swim in the Tarcoles river, in an area of the river that is known for its crocodiles.
The police report indicates that two men got off a Parrita bus and after drinking one of them decided to take swim in the river and dived in.
The regional director of the Fuerza Publica (police), Rigoberto Rodríguez, said that the man wasn’t in the water for five minutes when the crocs attacked.
Witnesses told Telenoticias that they saw several crocodiles with parts of the man’s body and that there were between five and seven of the reptiles involved in the attack.
Jeison Vargas, a local tour guide and interviewed on Telenoticias, said he said the man swim some 150 metres (500 feet) with several crocodiles following and then…
Police say the man was between 25 and 30 years old, a construction worker from who had working at new Hospital in Parrita, south of Jacó. Apparently, the man who is believed to be a Nicaraguan national living in Costa Rica, had just been fired from his job and was heading back to San José where he lived.
Víctor Brenes, who was accompanying the victim, told police that they had been kicked off the bus for being drunk and pleaded with his travelling companion not throw himself into the water. “He told me he wanted to go for a swim right there. I told Omar not to because there were bichos (crocodiles)”, said Brenes.
The incidend occured about 5:15pm. Cruz Roja paramedics were on the scene within minutes of the call, but there was nothing anyone could to at that point and had to call of the search as night fell and weather conditions, at 6:15pm.
The area of the Tarcoles river between Orotina and Jacó beach is well known for its crocodiles. So famous is the area that many tourists make a stop to look down on the crocodiles, some up to 7 or 8 metres in length, from the bridge above.
The bridge is commonly known as the “crocodile bridge” and has become a ad hoc tourist stop. The Tarcoles river and its crocodiles have also been featured in television programs by the Discovery Channel and National Geographic.
Sources:
The biggest crocodile in the Tarcoles is just over 5 meters (5.2 I think if I remember correctly)…and that itself is the largest confirmed reliable record for the American crocodile species….8 meters is a gross exaggeration.
So many spelling and grammar errors…