Shot Naked Man 'Was Chewing Victim's Face Off'

US police have fatally shot a naked man who was chewing on the face of another naked man in the middle of a busy road.

The two men were seen fighting each other on the MacArthur Causeway in Miami and witnesses flagged down a police officer, who urged the attacker to stop.

The aggressor is thought to have been trying to eat the man's face and gouge out his eyes.

The officer ordered the naked man to move away from his victim but he failed to do so and so he shot him, the Miami Herald reported.

Witnesses said the man continued the attack despite being wounded and that he was then shot several more times, leaving him dead.

One man told a local broadcaster he was riding his bike down the road when he saw the man tearing pieces of flesh from his victim with his mouth.

"I told him to get off," Larry Vega said WSVN-Fox 7, "and the guy just kept eating the other guy away."

Mr Vega said that when an officer approached the pair, the attacker "growled" and even kept chewing after he was shot.

Pictures show the pair lying prone under a motorway underpass in the Florida city.

The victim was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Centre and was reported to be critically injured.

Further reports suggested he could have been homeless and lying down when he was attacked. Police sources told CBS Miami he was left with virtually no face.

Miami Police confirmed there had been an officer-related shooting but did not include any further details.

The police said the identities of the two men are not yet known.

The Miami Herald was asked to provide its video surveillance tapes because their offices are next to where the incident took place.

The shooting and investigation led to traffic chaos as crowds were trying to reach South Beach for the annual hip-hop festival.

Javier Ortiz, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police in Miami, said that based on information he had received, the officer who fired the shots "is a hero and saved a life".

Sergeant Altarr Williams, from the Miami Police Homicide Unit, said a man did not need to be armed to pose a threat to people's lives.

"There are other ways to injure people. Some people know martial arts, others are very strong and can kill with their hands," he said.