Sri Lanka: Body of British journalist dragged into lagoon by crocodile found

September 15, 2017

New Delhi, Sept 15: Sri Lankan police on Friday found the body of a British journalist, Paul McClean, who is suspected to have been killed by a crocodile.

McClean, who worked for the Financial Times, was presumed dead after reports said a crocodile pulled him into a lagoon in southeast Sri Lanka on Thursday.

Divers found McClean’s corpse in the mud of a lagoon in the coastal village of Panama, 360 kilometres east of the capital Colombo by road, a police spokesperson said.

“There were six or seven wounds on his right leg,” a police official told AFP by telephone. “The body was stuck in mud at about the same place where he was seen last by some others who were with him.”

A crocodile is believed to have dragged McClean away on Thursday afternoon, the officer said, but a post-mortem examination later Friday would formally establish the cause of death.

Witnesses said the 24-year-old was staying with his friends at the East Beach Surf Resort and was taking surfing lessons at a popular surf spot called the Elephant Rock.

“There’s a lagoon right next to the sea he went to the toilet next to the lagoon and was grabbed by a crocodile,” A Scottish tourist told The Guardian.

“There are lots in the lagoon. People last saw his arms in the air in the water and then was grabbed under. I was there but didn’t see it happen though. Horrible.”

The navy, army and the task force have been sent to search for McClean’s body but the river connected to Elephant Rock is deep and waters murky, said the owner of Safa Surf School Fawas Lafeer.

“He went in the jungle, about 800 metres. It was when he was washing his hands that the crocodile took him.”

Lafeer said he heard some witnesses talking: “This is the first time anything like this has happened, Elephant Rock is always safe to surf.”

McClean, who belonged to Surrey in the UK, was an Oxford graduate with a first class honours degree in French. He covered Brexit in the two years he worked for the Financial Times, his first job after college. He had recently returned to London after living in Brussels for a few months.

A friend from the university, who wished to remain anonymous, described McClean as an “incredibly lovely and considerate person” who was doing terrific work at FT.

McClean’s recent articles on the FT website include a report on how climate change is fuelling investment in the wine industry.

The lagoon is known to have crocodiles and is located yards away from Elephant Rock near Arugam Bay on the southeast coast of the country, The Sun said.

Although rare, there have been previous incidents of crocodile attacks in Sri Lanka. A teenage girl was reportedly dragged away by a crocodile while she was on a holiday with her family in Galnewa earlier this April.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Panipat, Mar 3: A 22-year-old man was charred to death after he came in contact with a live electricity wire while posing for a TikTok video near the Matlaudha railway station here, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday evening when Vikas, a resident of Dharamgarh village, climbed a pole over which the wire was passing and posed for the video, police said.

His three friends were standing below when the accident took place.

Vikas came in contact with the wire carrying 25,000 volts current and was burnt, police said.

Police have sent the body for a post-mortem and started investigation into the matter.

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News Network
July 22,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 22:An accused in a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act jumped into the sea on Wednesday morning when he was taken for evidence collection at Kasaba in Kasargode district, police said.

Accused Mahesh was arrested following a complaint by his neighbour on Tuesday evening.

The police said that they took the accused to the seashore to collect evidence in the case when Mahesh jumped into the sea. Two police officials too jumped in after him to catch hold of him but could not locate Mahesh.

Later, swimmers were deployed to try and locate the missing man.

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News Network
June 22,2020

Kochi, Jun 22: A 54-day-old baby suffered brain damage after she was allegedly slapped and thrown on a cot at home by his father in Angamaly municipality of Ernakulam district, police said.

Doctor Sojan Ipe of MOSC Medical College Hospital at Kolenchery said that the damage caused to the brain is serious. The child was admitted with bleeding in the brain on Friday.

On Saturday, 40-year-old pastor Shaiju Thomas, who is the child's father was arrested by the Angamaly police in connection with the incident. He is currently lodged at the Covid first-line treatment centre at Angamaly.

Shaiju has been charged with IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) and under the Juvenile Justice Act.

According to Angamaly Police, ''the accused was always doubtful of his wife and raised questions over the parenthood of the child. He had slapped the child on multiple occasions. She fell unconscious on Thursday night after a similar attack and was taken to the hospital. We have so far received enough evidence against the accused.''

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