Port Charlotte alligator attack: 23-year-old Florida man loses arm after being bitten outside a bar

A 23-year-old man, hailing from Florida, has encountered "significant injuries" in an alligator attack which resulted in him losing his arm. As per the Associated Press, wildlife officials stated that the incident happened in the early hours of May 21 near Fort Myers, Florida.

According to a statement issued to CBS News, a spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said that the alligator, which measured 10.5 feet, attacked the anonymous man behind Banditos Bar in Port Charlotte. The person also shared that there is a pond beside the bar.

After receiving a complaint that a man had been attacked by a gator, the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, emergency medical services, and the state wildlife agency all reported to the scene.

Associated Press reports that the man, whose identity is unknown, was rushed to a hospital in Fort Myers where he was operated on immediately to amputate his arm, as per the authorities who reported on the scene.

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The victim was apparently in water when the alligator was attacking him

As per the Port Charlotte-based newspaper The Daily Sun, another person named Manny Hidalgo, who was also present at the Banditos Bar when the gator was attacking the 23-year-old, said that he heard someone screaming outside and he rushed outside the bar with a flashlight to figure it out.

Hidalgo said that the man was in the water already when he saw him. In an interview with The Daily Sun, Manny said:

"He was yelling and swimming toward the shoreline. I ran and dragged him up onto the sand. I was scared to get close to the water because it was dark out."

The gator was found and removed from the property after the authorities sent a nuisance alligator trapper to the site. They said that the animal was killed humanely.

The accident is being probed into by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

According to a previously published fact sheet by FWC, all of Florida's 67 counties are home to gators. Although the state is home to an estimated 1,300,000 alligators, serious injuries caused by alligators are uncommon, as per the commission.

This is not the first time that Florida has experienced an incident related to gators. Earlier in May, a 10-foot gator was discovered at a house's pool in Kendall.

While previously speaking to Newsweek, Todd Hardwick, who works at Pesty Critters pest control service said that it is not uncommon to find gators in swimming pools, especially where there are no screens.

"This particular alligator was living in a body of water in the neighborhood and they of course don't know the difference between a pool and a pond."

Also this month, a gator was found in a system of underground lines in the city of Oviedo, Florida. This was found by a robot camera that was controlled by Florida officials.