Canadian tourist dies after animal attack on southern Mexico beach

Silpanzingo. A Canadian tourist was killed and another injured after being mauled by an animal on Thursday While swimming in Ixtapa in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero.

Although both versions are circulating, local authorities are yet to determine whether it was a shark or a crocodile.

According to a report from the Emergency Assistance Center of the Secretariat of Comprehensive Risk Management and Civil Protection in the Costa Grande Region, The incident occurred shortly after 9:00 local time on the beach side of the Club Med Hotel. Zihuatanejo is located in the second hotel section of Ixtapa.

“A man with an amputated leg from a shark bite is being treated and given first aid,” said a report on the incident in the Mexican Pacific.

Despite medical attention, The man, a native of Canada, died of injuries to his leg. He has been identified as 76-year-old Joseph Binance.

The municipal president, Jorge Sánchez Alec, in statements to the media at the same event, A woman is injured, the love partner of a dead man, stable, According to recent medical reports.

said Marine biologists have said that the attack could be a crocodile attack.

However, he clarified that bacteriological analysis is being carried out to determine what happened and will be announced on Friday.

After the attack, an operation was launched with civil defense personnel and the Navy secretary to track down and capture the animal responsible.

Near Quieta Beach in the Mexican Pacific, there’s an alligator farm that’s been made inclusive of people with disabilities, and has been beefed up in terms of safety, according to the mayor.

Recently, the presence of a crocodile on the beach of El Palma in Ixtapa warned tourists that it does not happen to adults.

In previous years, specimens were also found at La Roba Beach in Zihuatanejo, where there is also a small estuary.

Meanwhile, shark attacks have also been recorded on Costa Grande beaches: in 2019, an American tourist was the victim of an attack in Droncones, a municipality in La Union, adjacent to Zihuatanejo.

Earlier, in 2008, a series of attacks were recorded between La Union and Ixtapa, leaving two dead, a tourist and a local, as well as one injured and one missing.

The Costa Grande region of Guerrero attracts a large number of foreign tourists during the cold season, where they seek refuge for its warmth.