Body of second victim of crocodile river found

Michael Easton, 62, from Holland Park, west London, and Ian Turton, from Huntington, in York, disappeared during their excursion to a protected forest area along the Cauvery River, near Bangalore, last week.

Mr Easton’s body was found after a lengthy search by the police, army and forest rangers. The research scientist had been in the country working for Shell.

Mr Turton’s body was found earlier last week. The 42-year-old was a project manager for Tenneco Automotive, working at their plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.

Graham van’t Hoff, chairman of Shell UK, said: “Mike’s adventurous spirit saw him work in the UK, the Netherlands, Iran and most recently in Bangalore, India, for Shell.

“He was well-known by colleagues for his friendly and humorous camaraderie. He will be sadly missed, an engineer with his own gifts and talents that he freely shared.

“Our thoughts are with all his family, friends and colleagues.

“Shell has conveyed its deepest sympathies to Mr Easton’s family and is offering them our support at this very difficult time.”

The two friends set out on the adventure last Saturday but failed to return and the emergency services were alerted on Monday. Their damaged canoe or raft was found on Wednesday, close to a known danger spot in the river, about 56 miles (90km) from Bangalore.

Indian officials believe they may have drowned when their boat hit rocks and overturned in fast flowing rapids. Post-mortem examinations will be carried out.

The Foreign Office said it was providing consular assistance to the men’s families.