Young girl killed by crocodile that pulled her from water’s edge into a lake
A five-year-old girl has been killed by a crocodile while standing next to a lake.
Identified only as Caca, she was with her parents in a remote village in Indonesia when she was grabbed from the banks and dragged into the former mining pit.
Local police, rescue volunteers, villagers, and search and rescue agency workers took to rubber boats and spent hours combing the water to look for the missing girl.
Residents cast a net and found a crocodile, believed to be the same one which grabbed Caca, but when they killed it and cut it open they found no remains in its stomach.
The search came to an end early on Sunday morning after her body floated to the surface not far from where she had been attacked.
Her skull had been crushed in the crocodile’s mouth, officers said.
The rescue agency head added: ‘The body was found at 5.20am. The team immediately collected her corpse and took it to the funeral home.
‘With the successful discovery of the victim, the SAR operation for Caca is hereby closed.’
Bukit Layang village chief Sergeant Turahman said: ‘This tragedy is a lesson for the community to be more careful when carrying out activities in reservoirs, former ore mining areas and rivers.’
The Indonesian archipelago is home to 14 types of crocodiles – with a large population which flourish in the region’s estuaries and climate.
Conservationists believe crocodiles have been driven closer to villages due to overfishing reducing the crocodiles’ natural food supplies, combined with habitat loss from the development of coastal areas into farms.
With locals in the developing country still using rivers for bathing and primitive fishing, the deadly combination of factors has led to rising numbers of crocodile attacks.
Last December, Nurhawati Zihura was killed on the Indonesian island of Sumatra after being mauled to death by a crocodile.
She had taken off her shoes to wash her feet in the sea.
Following Nurhawati’s death, officials have called for increased government action to tackle the danger posed by crocodiles.
Kornelius Wau, the Head of Pulau-Pulau Batu district in South Nias regency, said: ‘I have asked the North Sumatra Provincial Government through the North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) to take real action.
‘Many of these wild animals are still roaming the coast of Tello Island. I am worried that if this problem is not addressed, it will become a serious threat to the residents there.
‘The majority of residents’ settlements are on the coast and their livelihoods are at sea.
‘There are other wild crocodiles are still roaming the coast of Tello Island and its surroundings. More than 80% of our residents make their living at sea and even most of our residents’ settlements are on the coast.
‘They often bathe in the sea, so this is a threat to us and until it is solved, will we live in a frightening situation.’
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