British journalist killed by crocodile in Arugam Bay

A 24 year old British journalist, who was a reporter for the Financial Times, was killed by a crocodile yesterday (14), while washing his hands during a surfing holiday in Arugam Bay. 

The victim has been identified as Paul McClean, who was a 24 year old Oxford Graduate hailing from Britain.

The Daily Mail reports that McClean was ‘dragged into a lagoon’ while he was washing his hands near a toilet at Crocodile Rock in Arugam Bay. It has been reported that Paul McClean had left a group of his friends who had travelled with him when the tragedy occurred. 

Witnesses reported that they saw McClean fervently waving his arms in the air before disappearing into the murky water. 

Officials from the Army and Police have been searching the area and fear that the crocodile may have hidden the body underneath the muddy lagoon.   

UPDATE: 1.20pm

The Daily Mail reports that the body of the Financial Times reporter who is believed to have been dragged into a lagoon and killed by a crocodile has been found by Sri Lankan police.

Journalist and Oxford University graduate Paul McClean, 24, was discovered in the coastal village of Panama on Friday, with ‘six or seven wounds on one of his legs,’ according to local authorities.

Divers found Mr McClean’s corpse in a muddy lagoon, 225 miles east of the capital Colombo.

‘There were six or seven wounds on his right leg,’ a police spokesperson said.

‘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 Mr McClean away on Thursday afternoon, the officer said, but a post-mortem examination is expected to formally establish the cause of death.