A man died after jumping into a lake to escape a swarm of bees only to be attacked by piranhas.
The 30-year-old was fishing with two friends by the shoreline of a lake in Brazil when they were targeted by the insects.
All three jumped into the piranha-infested water but one of them was unable to get out and drowned.
Specialist divers found his face, his ears and part of his body had lacerations left by the killer fish after recovering it around 13 feet from the shoreline.
The horror incident happened on Saturday in a rural area of Brasilandia de Minas, a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil around 600 miles north-west of Rio de Janeiro.
The 30-year-old victim, whose body was recovered a day after the man went missing when divers with specialist equipment were mobilised, has not yet been named.
His family have been given permission to bury his body after investigators ruled a tragic accident had occurred and there was no sign of any crime.
It has not been made clear whether the fisherman drowned before he was attacked by piranhas or the fish played a part in his death by preventing him from swimming to safety like his two friends.
One of the pals was the owner of the land where the tragedy occurred.
The municipality is now home to around 17,000 people and boasts a tropical climate with temperatures ranging from 15 to 38 degrees Celsius.
Around 30 species of piranhas are said to inhabit South America’s lakes and rivers.
They have one of the strongest bites found in bony fishes thanks to their large jaw muscles attached closely to the tip of the jaw.
Swimming near fishermen is said to increase the risk of attacks due to the commotion caused by the struggling fish and the presence of bait in the water.
Nearly 200 piranha attacks, all involving single bites to the feet, were reported in the first half of 2007 in an artificial lake near the city of Palmas in central Brazil.
