The severed hand of a Scots tourist who went missing while swimming on a remote island was found inside the body of a shark yesterday.
The victim’s wedding ring was still on his finger when forensic scientists opened up the shark which was killed on Reunion in the Indian Ocean.
It's believed the hand belonged to a 44-year-old man from Scotland who had been holidaying on the island with his wife. The unnamed tourist vanished at the weekend after going for a swim.
The Tiger shark was later killed as it was considered a threat to holidaymakers on the island.
An investigating source on Reunion said: "It is feared that the hand belonged to a tourist who was reported missing on Saturday afternoon by his wife.
"The tourist and his wife were spending a week on the island and he had gone out swimming in the Hermitage Lagoon, off Saint-Gilles, alone on Saturday.
"When he did not get back, his wife sounded the alarm, and a full search was launched, involving boats and a helicopter.
"Divers searched around a coral reef in the area, and there were also patrols on land involving sniffer dogs. Sadly, the man could not be found."
There are frequent around Reunion, which is in the Indian Ocean, some 500 miles from Madagascar.
Tiger sharks have a record second only to Great White sharks for attacks on humans , but it may be that the man drowned and his corpse attracted the fish.
DNA tests are due to be carried out on the hand, but scientists from the CSR Shark Safety Centre on Reunion have been told that the wedding ring conformed to one identified by the man’s wife.
The dead Tiger Shark was more than 10ft long and was one of five considered a threat to those in the sea.
