Crocodile Attacks 8-Year-Old Boy Swimming In River, Body Found With 'Severe Injuries'

A crocodile mauled an 8-year-old boy to death while the child was swimming in a river in Malaysia.

The incident took place Thursday in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Malaysia’s Sabah state. According to local police, the boy was with his friend when the crocodile got close to the child and dragged him underwater. Rohan Ahmad, a senior police officer, told the Star the victim's friend swam to the shore and informed the child's father.

“The friend, also an eight-year-old boy, immediately swam to shore and ran to the victim’s father nearby to seek help after seeing the attack,” Ahmad said, adding a search was conducted to find the victim. His body was found hours later, not far from where he was last seen. The body was retrieved by rescuers and sent for an autopsy.

“There were severe injuries on the boy’s body including his waist, chest and stomach,” Ahmad said.

The Star reported this was the second crocodile attack in the region in the past week. Earlier this month, a teenager was mauled by a crocodile in Sungai Mengkabong in Tuaran. The 16-year-old was with his friends when he was attacked by the reptile. The teenager was lucky and escaped death as his six friends came to his rescue and chased the crocodile away.

Authorities said they have deployed traps in the area to catch the crocodile. It remains unclear if the same crocodile was responsible for both the attacks.

In a similar incident, a 10-year-old boy was mauled to death by a crocodile when he was drinking water from a river in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. The child was herding cattle in a remote area and had gone near the river after having lunch. When he came close to the water, a crocodile leapt out and dragged the child into the water.

Police were notified and a search operation was conducted to find the child. The boy's torso was found on the shore two days after the incident. A person living nearby told the Times of India at the time that six crocodiles lived in that part of the river, and that attacks became easier as the water level had reduced in the river.