Whitewater guide missing after being pulled from kayak by crocodile

Two Americans being taken on the trip in Central Africa managed to paddle to safety but the body of guide Hendri Coetzee has not been recovered since the attack on the Lukuga River.

The three men were part of a mission to document unexplored whitewater in the region.

Ciaran Donnelly, International Rescue Committee's regional director in Congo, said the Americans were "physically unharmed but shaken up by the incident".

The stretch of river where they were travelling is notoriously dangerous for its whitewater and many crocodiles and hippos.

The two Americans – Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic – are still in Congo but expect to return home to the US shortly.

The trip was a first-of-its-kind kayaking trek from the White Nile and Congo rivers into Congo, according to a statement from Eddie Bauer, the sponsor.

"We are saddened by the tragic accident and express our deepest sympathies to Hendri's family and friends," the company said.

One of the Americans wrote on his blog: "There are three-ton hippos that will bite you in half."

In his online blog, Coetzee, 35, discussed the importance of trusting instincts and the group's only rule – "nobody panic."

In Coetzee's most recent entry dated November 26, he wrote: "As I licked my dry lips and carefully checked that my spray deck was on properly, I had the feeling I might be doing something I should not.

"I pushed through the doubt and when I finally shot out the bottom of the rapid I was happy I did. It was just paranoia after all."

He added: "Dwarfed by lush green mountains rising up to 3,000 feet above us, we were drawn in ever deeper with a constant eye on the banks for trouble."

The Democratic Republic of the Congo – formerly known as Zaire –is a largely inland nation, the third largest in Africa, with a population of nearly 71 million.

Congo has been blighted by civil war and internal conflicts for most of the last 50 years.