British safari guide spent night clinging to truck in crocodile-infested waters in South Africa

A British safari guide is "lucky to be alive" after he took a wrong turn and ended up stuck in a river where crocodiles are a "serious problem".

Mike Turner, 56, found himself in the terrifying situation last Thursday after Google Maps directed him across a bridge that was flooded, the Daily Mail reports.

He had travelled from Mozambique, where he has lived since 2011, to neighbouring South Africa to pick up a second-hand, open-topped game viewer vehicle.

There was heavy traffic on the way back home so Mr Turner decided to book a guest house near the Kruger National Park – one of Africa's largest wildlife game reserves.

While driving there, his vehicle became trapped in a surging current in waters known to be a crocodile hotspot, with "the water coming over the bonnet and the lights going out", he told The Daily Mail.

Mr Turner said he climbed to the raised benches in the back of the truck – the highest point – and called the guest house for help.

But the water was five feet higher than normal and staff were unable to rescue him safely, leaving Mr Turner trapped, clinging to the vehicle, for 16 hours.

The adventurer, originally from Cumbria, was rescued when the South African military service saved him with an Oxyx helicopter on Friday morning.

He told the Daily Mail: "It was absolutely terrifying. It’s a miracle that I survived the night. Crocodiles are definitely a serious threat on that stretch of river.

"The police told me afterwards that two people had been swept away at the same spot earlier that day, and when they found their bodies they'd been half-eaten by crocs. I didn't have any kind of weapon with me."

Pottie Potgieter, who coordinated the rescue mission, told The Times: "He could easily have ended up left in bits and pieces by the crocodiles or taken downriver to the waterfall."

Mr Turner was treated for dehydration and shock but was not badly injured in the ordeal, according to reports.

Parts of South Africa have seen torrential rain and flash flooding over the past few weeks.

In the small town of Ladysmith, in the KwaZulu-Natal province, at least 21 people have been killed in the wet weather, which hit on Christmas Day.