A shark that attacked a swimmer in Honduras was chased and beaten by vengeful locals.
Dramatic video captured the moment the shark was hooked to a line and beaten with a wooden stick after the terrifying encounter earlier in the day.
The incident occurred after farmer Roberto Bu, 38, joined another farmer and his family on Monday on a trip to inspect their crops and decided to stop by the beach in Tela, a coastal town in Atlántida.
Bu and several members of the group were swimming near a dock when he was suddenly attacked. HNC television news reported.
‘I thought he was joking because we were playing on the beach. Then a wave came and he started screaming, “Help me, help me,” witness Lizette Arita told the outlet.
Roberto Bu survived a shark attack while swimming at a beach in Tela, Honduras, on Monday
Locals were able to locate the shark and beat it with a wooden club after the attack.
Arita said that Bu tried to fight the shark.
“Then he started hitting it hard and that’s when the animal appeared. It was a shark. It wasn’t small. It was super big. We saw its black fin,” he said. ‘He started fighting with the animal. Then we started running towards the shore, My father shouted: “Come out, come out, run.”
When Bu was rushed to Tela Hospital, he was heard telling bystanders: “I fought that shark.”
He underwent emergency surgery for injuries to his back and the front of his right thigh, Dr. Zulmy López, deputy director of Tela Hospital, told HNC.
‘He is currently out of danger,’ said López, who added that it was the first time the hospital treated a patient for a shark attack.
‘He had lost a lot of blood and they gave him a transfusion. He’s in the recovery room.
Roberto Bu underwent surgery on his back and thigh after being bitten by a shark
When Bu was rushed to the hospital, he was heard telling bystanders: “I fought that shark.”
Roberto Bu is expected to undergo reconstructive surgery on his right thigh due to muscle loss
López added that Bu will most likely be transferred to the Mario Catarino Rivas Hospital in San Pedro Sula for reconstructive surgery on his right thigh due to muscle loss.
The shark attack is the second since September 17, when Fernando Mendoza, 33, was nearly killed in Trujillo, a city in Colón.
Mendoza was fishing for shellfish on a beach in Puerto Castillo when he was ambushed by a shark and bitten on the left leg.
Mendoza was taken to a local hospital and underwent surgery to treat injuries to his leg and knee.
Despite two attacks in a span of a month, said marine biologist Gabriella Ochoa The Herald newspaper that sharks do not take advantage of humans as a food source.
“Sharks don’t eat people, we’re not part of their diet,” Ochoa said. “Sharks feed on fish, mollusks and turtles, as they have a varied diet.”