Terrifying moment swimmer is dragged underwater by a CROCODILE before his friend saves him by poking the creature with a selfie stick
- The crocodile clamped its jaw around the right thigh of Amit Jatav, 30, in Bhopal
- His friend Gajendra Yadav rescued him by using a selfie stick to push the animal
- Jatav was given 30 stitches in hospital after a chunk was taken out of his thigh
This is the terrifying moment a swimmer was dragged underwater by a crocodile before his friend saved him by poking the creature with a selfie stick.
Footage taken near the Kaliasot Dam in Bhopal, central India, shows the moment the croc clamped its jaw around the right thigh of 30-year-old Amit Jatav.
But his friend Gajendra Yadav came to the rescue and used a selfie stick to push the animal away.
Jatav was then given 30 stitches in the hospital after a chunk was taken out of his thigh.
Footage taken near the Kaliasot Dam in Bhopal, central India, shows the moment the croc clamped its jaw around the right thigh of 30-year-old Amit Jatav (left). But his friend Gajendra Yadav (right) came to the rescue and used a selfie stick to push the animal. The pair are pictured just before the attack
They were playing in the shallow waters of the dam and taking videos when the crocodile attacked Jatav from below and pulled him deeper into the water
Jatav, who works in a shop, said he and Yadav headed to the lake after becoming bored during lockdown.
They were playing in the shallow waters of the dam and taking videos when the crocodile attacked Jatav from below and pulled him deeper into the water.
‘I could feel it biting down on my thigh. It was dragging me under. I thought this is it – I’m dead.
‘Had it not been for my friend I’d have been killed for sure,’ he told The Times of India from his hospital bed.
Yadav said he realised instantly that it was a crocodile attack and his actions were a reflex reaction.
Jatav was then given 30 stitches in the hospital after a chunk was taken out of his thigh (pictured are the injuries to his leg)
He says that the creature had dived around six feet under the water and was heading to the deeper part of the dam.
He then took the pole and dived after it, swimming in the same direction with his eyes closed. He then touched something scaly and realising it was the crocodile, poked the pointed end of the pole into its body.
The animal then released its grip on Jatav’s leg and swam away. He then dragged his friend back to shore and called for an ambulance.
Jatav said his mother started crying when he told her what happened and that she was in shock.
The region’s forest department said they will cover the expenses of the hospital treatment. They added that swimming is forbidden in the Kaliasot Dam.
This is the third crocodile attack in Bhopal in nine years. In June 2011, 17-year-old Sanjay Singh was attacked and killed by a crocodile when he was swimming with a friend.
In September 2014, a 46-year old man was attacked at the Kaliasot Dam when he was fishing.