Wendy/Darwin says, "Accepted into the Archive. Dead as a doormouse."

Shortly: Young woman went drinking with friends, decided to go swimming (repeatedly) in crocodile infested river. Third time unlucky. Honorable mention for her boyfriend (of 1 week) who jumped in to try and help when he saw the croc catch her.

Croc victim 'didn't even scream' -

2010-01-04 08:18 // Marietie Louw-Carstens

Johannesburg - A group of friends' New Year celebration ended in tragedy when a crocodile grabbed and apparently devoured a young woman from Phalaborwa in Limpopo.

Friends said Mariska Buitendag, 27, a waitress, didn't have time to scream or call for help. She didn't even struggle.

All they saw was a ripple on the water where seconds before she had been swimming in the Olifants River. Her boyfriend, Pieter (Borris) Henning, said another friend cried out: "The crocodile!"

Henning, who was standing on the bank, immediately jumped into the river to look for Buitendag. "Everything happened hopelessly too fast. I was too late. She was gone," he said. He and Buitendag had been going out for only a week.

Buitendag and a group of friends had gone to the banks of the Olifants outside Phalaborwa to celebrate New Year's Day on Friday morning. In the course of the morning, Buitendag swam in the river twice, but the third time, as she swam on her back, the crocodile struck. A police officer, who was on the scene shortly after the incident, said Buitendag was about 10 to 15 metres from the bank.

Swimming prohibited

Police spokesperson Sergeant Malesela Makgapo said the group had evidently had a lot to drink. "Swimming is strictly prohibited where they were swimming," Makgapo said. Witnesses and police officers at the scene confirmed that the friends had drunk a lot.

Police first searched for Buitendag's body by poking long sticks into the water, but found nothing. On Saturday, the police water wing from Polokwane was called in to continue the search, also to no avail. A police sniffer dog patrolled the bank to try to pinpoint her remains.

A long-time resident of Phalaborwa said locals know "you don't even put a toe in the river, it's teeming with crocodiles and hippos".

Buitendag worked at a local restaurant. She had two children. Her parents were in Pretoria at the time, but rushed back to Phalaborwa, where they did not want to speak to the media. Makgapo said police have opened an inquest.

Submitted on 01/05/2010

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: News24.com, new years day.

Copyright © 2010 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
This could use a MUCH better writeup, but given what's mentioned in the article I'll vote for it. Locals (of which this woman was apparently one) apparently knew that swimming in this area was prohibited due to all the crocodiles and hippos in the area. Yet she went swimming THREE times that evening? What did she expect to happen?

James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Snap, snap, snap...yum! Must have been one hungry croc! Anyway, these were locals. She should have known better! Well, crocodiles have to eat too...! Thanks!

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