Kayakers catch moment friend is ambushed and killed by 'man eater' crocodile on camera
Liv Bridge
Featured Image Credit: National Geographic
Two kayakers could only watch on in horror as their friend was dragged underwater by a suspected 'two tonne' croc in an attack they captured on camera.
In December 2010, legendary South African explorer, Hendri Coetzee and his two friends, Chris Korbulic and Ben Stookesberry, set sail by kayak to explore the Lukuga River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The team were on a thrilling mission to become the first people to boat the whitewater on the river and had already completed the first leg along the Rusizi River when disaster stuck as Coetzee was ambushed by a lurking predator.
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The trio were well aware of the threat of hippos and crocodiles on the river and attempted to stay as close together as possible.
However, a stretch of the river measuring around 100 feet wide separated the group.
The buddies were around five feet apart, with Coetzee paddling in the centre, Stookesberry at the front and Korbulic just behind when a hefty crocodile emerged from the water and launched towards the left of Coetzee’s boat.
Describing the moment his friend was dragged into the river, Korbulic told the Associated Press: “I glanced over and just in my periphery I saw the crocodile come out of the water, and he got onto Coetzee’s left side – just the left shoulder with its mouth.
“The crocodile just pulled him right underwater. I think we both were just in complete shock and disbelief, and absolutely horrified at what had just happened.”
Coetzee’s boat capsized and the reptile, estimated to be around 15 feet in length and coming in at a whopping two tonnes, dragged the outdoorsman from the cockpit of the kayak.
Stookesberry and Korbulic, who were documenting the one-of-a-kind expedition, could only watch on in horror.
Realising there was nothing they could do to try to save their friend and out of fear the croc might turn on them next, the pair paddled downstream to a nearby village.
It was there that villagers told them the reptile had likely been a beastly size and Korbulic and Stookesberry radioed for help.
Stookeberry said in his frantic call: “This is Ben, can you hear me? We’ve had a terrible accident here. Hendri just got taken by a crocodile."
The kayak was later recovered from the river by residents and bizarrely didn’t have a single mark on it to indicate what had happened – but Coetzee’s body has never been found.
Coetzee’s tragic death has been told in National Geographic documentary, Man-Eater of The Congo.
While the film included footage of the attack, it doesn’t show Coetzee's last breath or the moment the crocodile drags his body to the depths.