Panama City- Hungry crocodiles, with their powerful jaws and great strength, have become a real threat for fishermen in the Panama Canal, residents on the banks of the waterway said Friday. The most recent attack took place Thursday in Miraflores, where a man was most likely killed when a crocodile attacked three fishermen ending their day's work on the Pacific part of the canal.
Fishermen Pedro Rodriguez and Joel Ibarra Salazar said the animal - more than three metres long - attacked the group, grabbed their colleague Fermin Perez, 38, and quickly submerged him. The two other members of the group could do nothing to rescue the missing fisherman.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) noted that the three men had entered the area illegally, but units of ACP and National Service for Civil Protection were cooperating in the search for the missing man, presumed killed by the reptile.
In tropical areas, crocodiles can be up to seven metres long. Attacks on humans are often reported near large rivers, lakes and deep ravines, especially due to the destruction of their habitat and the disappearance of the fauna that usually serves as their food.
