- A British tourist was believed to have been eaten by a shark off Réunion island
- Man’s wife identified his remains through his wedding ring found in the animal
- Named locally as Richard Martyn Turner, on holiday for his wife’s 40th birthday
- The 44-year-old went missing while snorkelling in the ‘safe’ Hermitage Lagoon
- Lagoon is deemed safe for swimmers due to calm, shallow waters, of under 6ft
A British tourist believed to have been eaten by a shark had been swimming in what was deemed a ‘safe’ lagoon, it emerged yesterday.
The man, named locally as Richard Martyn Turner, was snorkeling by himself in an area known to have recent sharks sightings, according to the Scottish Sun.
The 44-year-old’s death was confirmed by judicial sources days after his severed hand and forearm were found in the stomach of a predator.
Martyn Turner, pictured on his wedding day to wife Verity in 2014, vanished while swimming off Reunion island. His hand, still bearing his distinctive wedding ring, was later recovered from a shark killed nearby
His wife, named by sources as Verity Turner, identified his remains through his wedding ring.
The civil servant, who was known as Martyn, and events company worker Verity, were originally from northwest England but now live in Edinburgh. The couple were believed to be on a trip to mark her 40th birthday.
Despite five sharks being killed near off the coast nearby where he went missing, the lagoon was described by locals as ‘safe’ for swimmers.
The Scot has yet to be officially named, but local sources said the couple were at the five star resort of Lux Réunion hotel in Saint-Gilles for Mrs Turner’s 40th birthday. The Foreign Office declined to comment yesterday.
Reports identified this shark as the one from which Mr Turner’s remains were recovered
Hermitage Lagoon off Hermitage Beach, close to the town of Saint-Paul, is one of the most popular tourist attractions on Reunion. It is deemed safe for swimmers thanks to its calm, shallow waters of under 6ft deep but outside the lagoon waters are known for shark attacks
He vanished on Saturday while snorkelling in Hermitage Lagoon, off the coast of the Indian Ocean island of Reunion – a French overseas territory.
A police helicopter was called in to the search for the missing man, but he could not be found by rescue teams.
The lagoon is deemed safe for swimmers thanks to its calm, shallow waters of less than 6ft and its dense coral reef, which serves as a barrier that helps keep sharks out.
It is located off Hermitage Beach, close to the town of Saint-Paul – one of the most popular tourist attractions on Reunion, which is 500 miles east of Madagascar.
A legal source on Reunion said: ‘The man undoubtedly thought he was safe. He went off to snorkel around the Hermitage coral reef, where the water is warm and very shallow.
‘It may be that waves pushed the man beyond the reef into open sea, or that the shark swam into the lagoon. What is now certain is that he is dead.’
It remained unclear last night whether the man was attacked by the tiger shark or whether he drowned and the fish was attracted to his floating body.
One source on the island claimed the man’s hand and forearm were found inside the stomach of one of the captured tiger sharks – which were between nine and 13ft long.
Tiger sharks are the second most dangerous shark to humans after the Great White.
Classed as a near-threatened species, an adult tiger shark is 10-14ft long, can weigh up to 1,400lb and will live for 15 years or more.
A spokesman for the local search and rescue crew – the Centre Regional Operationnel de Surveillance et de Sauvetage (Cross) – said it might not be possible to determine cause of death without a body, but blood and DNA tests would be carried out on the hand.
It is understood the Scot and his wife had been spending a week on the island, staying at the Lux Réunion hotel in Saint-Gilles (pictured)
Saint-Gilles on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion (file image). A 44-year-old Scottish man believed to have been eaten by a shark was staying at the Lux Réunion hotel in Saint-Gilles
He added: ‘The victim was certainly swimming but it is not clear whether he was attacked or he was already dead when he was eaten. One possibility is that he became unwell while in the lagoon and was taken by the currents into deeper water.’
The spokesman said there was no operation to find the Scot as crews would be unlikely to recover a body given how many sharks are in the water. He added: ‘If we find a body, it is usually within the first 48 hours of it going missing.’
It is understood the Scot and his wife had been spending a week on the island, staying at the Lux Réunion hotel in Saint-Gilles.
Mr Turner’s severed hand and forearm were said to have been identified by his wife on Wednesday. They were recovered after five sharks were killed four miles from the picturesque Hermitage Beach.
A police insider on Reunion said the man had been described by his family as a ‘strong swimmer’.
The insider added that the tourist’s wife ‘did not see him going out of the sea after he went off for his swim’.
The couple are thought to live in Edinburgh and moved to Scotland from the north west of England around 15 years ago.
Mr Turner is believed to have worked for the Scottish civil service while his wife was employed at a local events company.
There are frequent shark attacks around Reunion, which is in the Indian Ocean, some 500 miles from Madagascar (a map showing the location of Reunion island)
A source on the island said: ‘Here, they regularly fish sharks to regulate the population.
‘This week they fished four – that’s a lot for a week, so maybe they had suspicions – and they found human remains in one of the stomachs.
‘Apparently they found his hand and forearm and it’s thanks to his wedding ring that they identified him.’
The shark that had eaten the remains was over 10ft long.
Last night, the UK Foreign Office said: ‘We are providing support to the family of a British man who died in La Reunion.’
Reunion’s waters are among the most shark-infested in the world, with numerous beaches and coves closed to swimmers, surfers and snorkellers due to the threat.
Local authorities have been accused of downplaying the dangers in order to prevent harming the tourism industry.
In May, a 28-year-old surfer had his leg ripped off by a shark off Reunion, with his body later found floating in the port of Saint-Leu.
It was the 24th shark attack – and 11th fatal case – reported on Reunion since 2011.
On a visit last month to Reunion, French President Emmanuel Macron said his government was doing everything possible to deal with the shark crisis.
source:dailymail