2 American tourists injured in crocodile attack in Mexico

Two U.S. tourists were injured by a crocodile at Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta resort when one went swimming in the ocean at night and the other went in the water to help him.

The civil defense office in the western state of Jalisco said Wednesday the first American suffered bites to his legs, arm, abdomen and chest. The second, who went in the water to help, suffered a wound to his hand.

The office said both men were given first aid at the scene. It said both men were from Colorado, but did not specify a hometown for either.

Crocodiles are a not infrequent sights in the coastal wetlands and shores of the Pacific coast resort of Puerto Vallarta. Australia has also seen multiple crocodile attacks in recent years.  

The crocodile attack comes after several reports of deadly attacks this summer by alligators, which look similar to crocodiles but are a different animal. Last week, an elderly woman was killed by two alligators in a pond near her Florida home. 

Prior to that attack, an unidentified victim died after an alligator dragged them into a pond in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Weeks earlier, Florida police found a deceased 47-year-old man in a gator-infested lake missing three limbs after a likely encounter with alligators.