The horrifying moment their friend was devoured by a huge crocodile was captured on camera by two kayakers.
Hendri Coetzee was kayaking down the Congo’s Lukuga River with Americans Chris Korbulic and Ben Stookesberry in 2010 when a “15 foot” crocodile tore him from his boat, and he was never seen again.
“I glanced over and just in my peripheral I saw the crocodile come out of the water, and he got onto Hendri’s left side – just the left shoulder with its mouth,” Korbulic recalled at the time.
All three men were world-class kayakers and Korbulic and Stookesberry had teamed up with Coetzee to be the first ever people to boat the Lukuga River’s whitewater.
They had been kayaking in a tight-knit group so as to avoid hippo and croc attacks and were just ‘four or five’ feet apart when the animal struck.
Korbulic told the Associated Press back in 2010: “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 was snatched from his kayak on 7 December, and the only crocs they’d seen prior to the incident that day had been three small reptiles, averaging about three feet in length.
The three men were cruising down a stretch of water approximately 100 feet wide, with Coetzee in the centre, Stookesberry up front on the left and Korbulic only slightly behind him.
When Coetzee’s boat was capsized, Stookesberry and Korbulic watched it shake for 20 seconds as the crocodile wrenched Coetzee from the cockpit.
Recognising that they were unable to help, the two Americans quickly paddled downstream to a village where residents told them the croc was likely ‘15 feet long and two tonnes in weight’.
Soon after the attack, Coetzee’s boat floated by and was hauled onto shore by villagers. There wasn’t so much as a scratch on the kayak.
Coetzee’s body has never been found and he’s presumed dead.
In 2013, the story of Coetzee’s death was told in the National Geographic documentary, Man-Eater of The Congo.
Footage of the moment Coetzee was attacked was also included, however, the exact moment the crocodile attacked is not shown.
After arriving at a nearby village shortly after the attack, Korbulic and Stookesberry – who are visibly shaken – can be seen radioing for help, with the latter saying: “This is Ben, can you hear me? We’ve had a terrible accident here. Hendri just got taken by a crocodile.”
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677
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