South Africa: Police officer tells of operation to retrieve human remains from crocodile

A police officer has recalled the moment he was lowered from a helicopter into a crocodile-infested river in South Africa as part of an effort to recover human remains. Captain Johan Potgieter was tasked with capturing a crocodile suspected of eating a businessman who had been swept away by floodwater. “The crocodile itself was lying on an island… there really was no other way to get to it except from the air,” he told the BBC.

Since the operation, remains have been found inside the 4.5m (15ft) and 500kg (1,100lb) crocodile. DNA tests are underway to confirm their identity. The man’s car had become stranded attempting to cross a low bridge in the flooded Komati River last week.

Drones and helicopters were used to in the search mission which led police to a small island where a number of crocodiles lay in the sun, one of which they believed had eaten the man. “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,” he explained.

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The presence of other crocodiles, hippos and rocks in the river, meant it was too dangerous to use a boat or canoe to recover the body, Potgieter told the BBC. “There were other crocodiles next to that one that were probably there because of the blood in the water. But luckily because of the noise of the helicopter and the downdraft blowing around, they moved away and didn’t bother me,” the veteran officer said.

Once Potgieter agreed to do the recovery operation, there was no turning back. “When I was hanging there, there was no way for me to communicate with the pilot. So irrespective of whether I changed my mind and decided not to do it, there was no way that that was going to happen,” he added.

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