A 14-year-old altar boy was savagely torn apart by crocodiles in front of his horrified parents when he fell into a canal during a family outing.
Victim Andres Alejandro Santana Hernandez was ripped to shreds by the croc colony in the waterway in Lazaro Cardenas on Mexico's Pacific coast.
The estuary is home to large numbers of man-eating Morelet's crocodiles, responsible for at least a dozen human deaths.
Screaming Andres was set upon by the 10-foot reptiles after falling into the water on 18th July before his family could pull him back.
Picture shows a crocodile spotted with something unusual in its mouth, undated. Andres Alejandro Santana Hernandez, 14, was dragged by crocodiles in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan in Mexico. Note: Private photo. (Newsflash/NX)
Witnesses said the crocs dragged him into a mangrove swamp where his body was pulled to pieces.
Grim photos taken after the frenzied killing show one croc with what seems to be a boy's leg clamped in its jaws.
Police divers are trying to recover what remains of his corpse from the waterway.
Andres, from Cortazar, was an altar boy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and a member of the Cortazar Fire Department's Marching Band.
The church said in a statement: "With deep sorrow, but with our hope placed in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has Risen and is the Lord of life, I earnestly ask you to join in prayer for the eternal rest of Andres Alejandro Santana Hernandez, altar server of the main parish, who has been called to the house of the Eternal Father."
Morelet's croc, or Crocodylus moreleti, are small but lightning fast predators which weigh around 400lbs and are capable of overpowering cattle.
Picture shows a crocodile spotted with something unusual in its mouth, undated. Andres Alejandro Santana Hernandez, 14, was dragged by crocodiles in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan in Mexico. Note: Private photo. (Newsflash/NX)
They have been declared responsible for at least 12 human deaths, all hunted as prey.
Local police and water safety officials have warned visitors to keep away from the canal's banks and say the crocs can be "unpredictable".
The death is under investigation.
(Simona Kitanovska / newsX)