A young mom playing with her daughter on the beach unintentionally recorded the brutal "shark attack" death of a tourist mauled to death in the water.
Joseph 'Jeff' Bynens, 76, was swimming in the sea when he was attacked by the predator on 14 December. His female partner was also attacked by the same animal and is currently being treated in hospital. According to reports, Canadian Bynens was rescued from the water with most of his leg missing and died of excessive blood loss on the beach in Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Mexico.
Initial reports said the Canadian tourist was killed by a shark, but his injuries led the authorities to suspect that it may have been a crocodile.
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A young mom playing on the beach with her daughter apparently captured the victim's final moments, possibly shedding light on what animal attacked Bynens. Marlene Luviano said she asked her father to film her playing with their toddler daughter because it was her birthday. She explained: "We were enjoying the morning on the beach and that's when we heard something in the sea."
The clip shows the pair playing on the shoreline before Luviano realizes something is not right and leads her daughter away from the shore. She then asks her partner to stop filming. In the background, Bynens is seen swimming to a buoy and waving his arm in the air for help before being dragged under the waves, presumably by the marine predator.
By the time the victim was rescued from the sea, he had already "bled to death", according to Luviano. She said: "When they dragged him out of the sea, the wound was already very visible. "I noticed there was no longer any blood coming out." The authorities are still investigating whether the Canadian tourist was killed by a shark or a crocodile.
Just days before Bynens death, a mother was killed by a shark in Melaque, located west of Mexico City. Maria Fernandez Martinez Jimenez went into the sea with her five-year-old child when the shark bit off most of her left leg.
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The 26-year-old was carried to the shore by three beachgoers, but she bled to death on the sand just minutes later. In a video of the ordeal, people can be heard shouting "She's lost her leg," as they waited for rescue officials. Her child was unscathed in the shark attack. The local authorities launched an investigation to determine the exact circumstances of the attack and evaluate security measures in the coastal area.
Rafael Araiza, head of the local civil defense office, said the attack happened as the 26-year-old was swimming toward a floating play platform about 75 feet from the coast with her child, 5.