Tributes have poured in for the “outstanding” British journalist who was reportedly dragged to his death by a crocodile, after Sri Lankan Navy divers recovered his body.
Paul McClean was last seen with his arms thrashing in the air and water after the creature snatched him from a beach at Elephant Rock, near Arugam Bay in the country’s south-east.
The Financial Times reporter had walked almost half a mile from an area where he was surfing to use a toilet, and was later washing his hands in water when the reptile attacked him, witnesses said.
Navy divers pulled Mr McClean’s body from mud in the lagoon and believe injuries they found on his legs may have been the result of a crocodile attack.
A police spokesman told The Times: “There were six or seven wounds on his right leg.”
He added: “The body was found in mud at about the same place where he was seen last by some others who were with him.”
Mr McClean had been surfing with friends before the attack while he was on holiday in Sri Lanka.
A Scottish tourist, who asked not to be named, told The Guardian: “He went to the toilet next to the lagoon and was grabbed by a crocodile. There are lots in the lagoon. People last saw his arms in the air in the water and then was grabbed under … Horrible.”
Tributes have poured in for Mr McClean, 24, who grew up in Thames Ditton, Surrey. He had graduated from Oxford just two years ago with a first-class honours degree in French.
Mr McClean began working at the Financial Times in September 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile. He spent several months in Brussels, where he wrote about Brexit and the EU.
The paper's editor, Lionel Barber wrote on Twitter: “Paul McClean was an outstanding young journalist with a great future at the FT. We will miss him sorely.”
His colleague, Katie Martin, head of fastFT.com, described him as “a talented young journalist” and “a joy to be around, truly, with an impish sense of humour".
The newspaper’s Brussels bureau chief Alex Barker said: “He was one hell of a reporter if he was on your case.”
On his Twitter profile, McClean described himself as a “long suffering” Everton fan.
Police in Sri Lanka are expected to hold a post-mortem to establish a cause of death.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed it was "assisting the family of a British man who has died in Sri Lanka".
