A teenage girl was killed in a horror crocodile attack in Indonesia.


Intan Maria Sari, 14, was swimming in the Gansal river with friends when a crocodile pounced on her in Riau province on July 9.

The teen shouted for help as the other panicked youngsters rushed to call the adults but Maria had disappeared underwater before the rescuers arrived.

A search and rescue was carried out by local police who found her on July 10 evening, more than 24 hours after she went missing, with animal bite marks on her waist.

Indragiri Hulu Police Public Relations Officer Adjunct Inspector Aipda Misran said: ‘A search operation was carried out with a joint team from the Regional Disaster Management Agency, the National SAR Agency, as well as the army and residents.'

Inspector Aipda added that Maria and her friends were washing their clothes in the river before diving in the water to play.

He said: ‘After washing clothes, the victim soaked in the river. She dived underneath but shouted for help upon surfacing. One of her friends saw the victim being attacked by a crocodile.'

Maria's body was found the next day about a kilometre away from where she was last seen.

The police officer added: ‘Her body was intact, but there were scars that looked like crocodile bite marks on the waist.'

Due to the incident, local officials prohibited villagers from swimming in the river and put up signs about the ‘threat of wild animals.'

The girl's body was taken for an autopsy before her family was able to retrieve her for a funeral ceremony.

The crocodile that reportedly attacked the girl has not been found.

Inspector Aipda added: 'Residents have been warned to avoid rivers as the crocodile is likely to attack again.'

The Indonesian archipelago is home to 14 types of crocs - with a large population of extremely large and violent estuarine crocodiles that flourish in the region's climate.

Conservation officials blame habitat degradation due to blast fishing and the conversion of coastal areas into farms for driving the creatures out of the wild and closer to villages.

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.