This is a horrific moment the body of a missing father was seen - being eaten by a crocodile.

Luther, 51, was bathing in the water after gathering palm leaves by the Bebatu river when the beast pounced on him in North Kalimantan province, Indonesia on February 15.

He was then dragged underwater by the 13ft-long crocodile while hitting its head as his shocked friends helplessly tried to scare it away but it refused to let go of the man.

The incident was reported to authorities who searched the area without success. He was reportedly last seen by a local - who was able to record the incident - on February 16 along the same river while the crocodile feasted on him and disappeared again.

Footage shows the large crocodile dragging what appeared to be a screaming man into the water believed to be Luther.

In the video, the man could be heard saying: 'This is where a person was attacked by a crocodile but have not yet been found until now. We are making a video here.'

However, the filmer did not expect that the crocodile would actually appear with the man who was struggling to fight it. The terrified local can be heard saying from the background: 'Oh my God the crocodile ate the man.'

Village head Mahmuda said the incident was immediately reported to rescuers to help in searching for the man.

He said: 'It really happened here. The victim's name was Luther. Incidents of people being attacked by crocodiles in the canal also happened before.'

Plantation officials have even put up notice boards to warn villagers not to come close to the canal that says: 'No activity in this area, it's dangerous. There's a crocodile.'

The search and rescue mission had been jointly done by the army and police as the footage sowed fear among locals but the man had not yet been found due to the remote location.

Lieutenant Colonel Tri Prio Utomo of the Tana Tidung Military District said: 'We are constrained by the location where there are lots of bushes, branching canals, and inadequate equipment but our team will try our best to find the victim.

'We urge everyone not to come near the canal so please obey the signs to avoid these incidents from happening.'

It was not the first time that a man had been attacked by a crocodile in the area. Just a few months ago in December, 30-year-old Zainal Abidin had gone missing after being bitten by a crocodile.