Police in South Africa have recovered the remains of a man from inside a crocodile suspected of eating him in a high-risk operation involving a helicopter.
Captain Johan Potgieter was lowered from the aircraft into a river, where he “courageously secured a crocodile using a rope under extremely dangerous conditions,” the South African Police Service confirmed in a Facebook statement on Sunday.
The animal — which was suspected of eating a man after he was swept from his car while trying to cross a bridge during flooding last week, according to the police statement — had already been killed when it was airlifted from the water and was relocated, “enabling police and other experts to recover the remains of a suspected missing person,” police said.
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“Following a week-long search for the missing man, the team identified a crocodile in the river that was suspected of carrying out the attack on a missing person,” officers added in a later news release.
Footage of the procedure, shared by police and the Associated Press, shows Potgieter and the 4.5-metre-long crocodile hanging from a rope suspended from the helicopter.
“The discovery of the remains means that the police have now taken the body parts found in the intestines of the crocodile for DNA analysis to confirm the identity of the deceased,” police wrote.
Lt.-Gen. Puleng Dimpane has praised the captain for his bravery.
“Capt. Potgieter’s willingness to place his own life at risk, going far beyond the call of duty, reflects the unwavering commitment of SAPS members to serve and protect, even in the face of danger that could have cost him his life,” Dimpane said.
Potgieter told the BBC that the crocodile was lying on an island and the only viable way to recover it was by air. The large animal was shot dead by his colleagues before the retrieval portion of the mission began, he explained.
“It turned onto its back and they thought that it was dead. But by the time we went back, it was back onto its right side, and it had swum a bit upstream,” Potgieter told the news agency, adding that they could not be sure it was dead until he made contact with it.
“Then I knew it was 100 per cent dead,” he said, “Because if it wasn’t, it would have definitely attacked me,” he continued.
There were other animals in the vicinity during the operation, including crocodiles and hippos, as well as hazards such as rocks, which made the exercise too risky to carry out by boat, he said, the British outlet reported.
“Luckily, because of the noise of the helicopter and the downdraft blowing around, they moved away and didn’t bother me,” the officer explained.
Despite almost four decades with the force, this was a first for Potgieter.
“This was definitely a first and hopefully it will also be the last time…there’s really no way to prepare,” he said, as reported by the BBC.
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