A man was after being attacked by an alligator and dragged into a retention pond, authorities said.
The massive creature took hold of the victim near the edge of the pond just before noon Friday at the Myrtle Beach Golf and Yacht Club in South Carolina.
After attacking the man, the alligator crept back into the pond, the Horry County Police Department said in a .
Police officials received a call about a water-rescue mission and responded to the pond around 11.45am. There, rescuers ‘determined that an alligator took hold of a neighbor who was near the edge of a retention pond and retreated,’ police said.
A biologist with the state’s Department of Natural Resources and an alligator-removal contractor decided that the animal should be ‘humanely euthanized on site,’ the police added in their statement.
The victim, who has not been identified by authorities, was recovered from the pond. The Horry County Coroner’s Office is investigating the death.
The attack was the first deadly alligator attack in the state since May 2020, authorities said.
While this is the first deadly alligator attack in the state since May 2020, it is the second fatal attack in a month. On May 31, .
The body of Sean McGuinness, 47, was recovered from the lake, where he often went to search for discarded objects from a nearby disc golf course.
McGuinness’ body was found missing three limbs, Largo police said. The final medical examiner’s report on his death is expected in late July.
Two large alligators were euthanized in the lake following his death.
Fatal alligator attacks are generally rare in the US, where on average only about 10 people have been by the animal per year between 1999 and 2019, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
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