Crocodile Mauled Teenage Girl To Death While She Was Swimming In River

In a horrific incident, a teenage girl was mauled to death by a crocodile while she was swimming in a river in Indonesia. According to local reports, the reptile snatched and dragged the girl under the water.

The 17-year-old was cooling off in the Sebamban River in South Kalimantan with her friends when she was attacked. While the four girls were having fun in the water, a crocodile pounced on the victim and sank its teeth into her arm.

The teenager’s friends screamed for help but the reptile dragged her below the surface. Villagers arrived at the scene and tried searching for the girl. After five hours, they found the girl's lifeless body. Her body was seen floating on the surface of the muddy water after the crocodile let her go. Locals then pulled the body into a wooden boat.

Senior police officer Adjutant Apri said the victim was found with wounds on her hands from where she is believed to have tried to fight off the crocodile.

“Jumia, a witness, reported to us about the crocodile attack. The crocodile took the victim into the river by biting her arm," the officer said, adding that the victim was found bleeding in her nose, mouth, and hands. She was taken to the nearest hospital where she was declared dead.

“The doctors said the victim’s blood vessels had burst due to being underwater for too long," the senior officer said.

The head of the Tanah Bumbu Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Eryanto Rais, added: ‘‘When found, the victim’s condition was very critical. She was bleeding from her nose, mouth and hand. Officers rushed her to the nearest community health center, but they could not save her.’‘

Villagers are now searching for the crocodile and have warned families in the area not to go fishing or swimming in the river.

Last month, a crocodile was hunted and killed after it attacked a fisherman in Indonesia. Villagers cut open the reptile's belly to retrieve the man's body. The incident took place in Indonesia's Riau province, on the central-eastern coast of Sumatra facing the Strait of Malacca. The 55-year-old fisherman's friend said that a 13-foot-long crocodile pulled the man into the Lakar River. The victim's friend managed to scramble up the muddy banks to safety after witnessing the reptile attack.

During a search, rescue teams found the victim’s leg washed up on the river bank. The teams managed to track the suspected crocodile. The reptile was shot and killed before being brought up to shore. Villagers cut its belly to reveal if it had eaten the fisherman.