A man has been eaten by piranhas after a boat crash on an Amazonian river.
Joney Jose Silva da Luz, 38, was driving a boat on the Cuiabá River in Barão de Melgaço, Brazil, at around 6 p.m. on Saturday, September, when the incident happened. His body was discovered the following morning.
Two vessels collided while carrying a total of five people. Three passengers were rescued alive while two people, including Silva da Luz, remained missing. His corpse was found with multiple bites from a shoal of piranhas in the river.
His ravaged remains were pulled out of the water and placed on one of the rescue boats. The victim’s wife was one of the three survivors. A passenger on the other vessel, named as Wagner Silva, still remains missing and is presumed dead.
The Brazilian Navy said they sent a search and rescue team to the location as soon as they learned of the accident. A spokesperson said: “An administrative procedure has been initiated to determine the cause, circumstances and responsibility of the incident.” As of 11 September, divers are still searching forMr Wagner’s body. Access to the area has been restricted by the authorities as the investigation continues.
In November 2021, a man was eaten by piranhas after jumping into a lake to escape a swarm of bees. The 30-year-old was fishing with two friends by the shoreline of a lake in Brazil when they were targeted by the insects.
All three jumped into the piranha-infested water but one of them was unable to get out and drowned. Specialist divers found his face, his ears and part of his body had lacerations left by the killer fish after recovering it around 13 feet from the shoreline.
Around 30 species of piranhas are said to inhabit South America’s lakes and rivers. They have one of the strongest bites found in bony fishes thanks to their large jaw muscles attached closely to the tip of the jaw.
Swimming near fishermen is said to increase the risk of attacks due to the commotion caused by the struggling fish and the presence of bait in the water. Nearly 200 piranha attacks, all involving single bites to the feet, were reported in the first half of 2007 in an artificial lake near the city of Palmas in central Brazil.
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