"Unidentified animal" bites beach vacationer to death
On Mexico's Pacific coast, two beachgoers are bitten on the legs by an unknown animal. For a vacationer from Belgium, all help comes too late. The authorities suspect that a shark or crocodile was behind the attack. An investigation should provide certainty.
A visitor to a Mexican beach has been bitten by an as yet "unidentified animal" and died. An injured woman was taken to hospital for treatment, as the civil defense authority of the western Mexican state of Guerrero announced on Facebook.
It was initially unclear whether the animal was a shark or a crocodile, Mexican media reported, citing local officials. The dead man is said to be a Belgian tourist.
According to the civil defense, the incident happened on Thursday on Quieta Beach in the resort area of Ixtapa, which belongs to the Pacific municipality of Zihuatanejo. Both victims were reportedly injured in the legs. The animal that attacked them is being sought. The beach was closed.
Just under two weeks earlier, on December 2, a young woman was bitten by a shark while swimming with her child a few hundred kilometers further north on Mexico's Pacific coast, on Melaque Beach in the state of Jalisco, and died.
A representative of the Coordination Office for Reconstruction in Guerrero, Randy Suástegui, told the newspaper "El Sol de Acapulco" that the passage of hurricane "Otis" had affected the ecosystem in the region. The hurricane hit the Mexican Pacific coast near the vacation resort of Acapulco at the end of October and caused devastating damage. At least 50 people lost their lives. The Mexican government has since launched a reconstruction program worth 61 billion pesos, the equivalent of around 3.3 billion euros.
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The unfortunate incident has raised international concerns, as another tourist, this time from Belgium, was attacked and lost their life on Mexican shores. Authorities are conducting an ongoing investigation to identify and capture the responsible shark or crocodile.
Source: www.ntv.de
