Costa Rican footballer devoured by crocodile while bathing in river as beast is spotted with body in its jaws

A FOOTBALLER has been devoured by a crocodile after taking a dip in a river to cool off.

Shocking images show the large reptile swimming through the water with the victim’s body in its jaws.

Jam Press

Tributes have been paid to Costa Rican footballer Jesus Alberto Lopez Ortiz[/caption]

Jam Press Vid

Shocking images emerged of the player being mauled and carried by a crocodile[/caption]

Locals battled to haul the victim’s body from the riverJam Press Vid

Another clip shows the crocodile being shot dead in the water before locals carry its victim’s body to the riverbank.

Jesus Alberto Lopez Ortiz, nicknamed “Chucho”, was killed by the reptile on Saturday, it has been revealed.

The 29-year-old footballer was attacked by the crocodile while cooling off in the river in Rio Cañas in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica.

Locals followed the reptile in a canoe – but a statement by local police said it was their officers who killed the crocodile.

Lopez was a footballer for amateur side Deportivo Río Cañas, as well as a dad to two children aged eight and three.

His distraught family have now appealed to the public to help pay for the player’s funeral costs, while his team manager Luis Carlos Montes is also organising a collection.

The player’s club paid tribute, saying: “With deep sorrow we make public the death of our player Jesús López Ortiz that God enjoys.

“Rest in peace, Chucho – we join the pain of all his family.

One supporter’s comment in response on Facebook said: “Always with his humility that characterised him, last night he delighted us with his last game.

“We will miss you, Chucho – the ball always at 10.”

Costa Rica’s ministry of environment and energy bans hunting or killing protected animals including crocodiles.

But local police decided they had permission under the central American country’s wildlife laws “to free the body from the jaws of the reptile” and shoot the crocodile dead.

In a statement, they said: “It should be clarified that all efforts were made to rescue the body of the deceased person without causing damage to the reptile, which was not possible.”

Last November a 12ft crocodile tore off the head of an eight-year-old boy Julio Otero Fernández in Costa Rica while he was on a fishing trip with his horrified family.

Later that month a hunter tracked the suspected predator and shot it dead before fleeing the scene.

In Indonesia last July, a 14-year-old girl was killed by a crocodile while washing her clothes in the river.

That attack came a year and a half after another eight-year-old boy was mauled to death by a crocodile near his home in Malaysia.

And just last week, also in Malaysia, a missing farmer was found inside the belly of a huge 14ft crocodile.

An elderly man died when he was set upon by some 40 crocodiles after falling into their enclosure earlier this year in Cambodia.

Also in May, the remains of a missing fisherman were found inside two crocodiles in Australia.

And last year two tourists from the United States were attacked by a crocodile at a resort in Mexico when one went swimming in the ocean at night and the second came in to try helping him.