An enormous 26ft-long killer crocodile was caught after eating a fisherman alive in Indonesia.

The gigantic creature stalked father-of-three Samsul Bahri, 45, while he was catching shrimp then attacked him in the Semaja river in Nunukan Regency, North Kalimantan province on July 19.

Frantic locals helped police searched for the crocodile for three days. They pulled Samsul's remained from the beast's stomach - confirming to his devastated wife and children than he had been eaten by the reptile.

Fisherman Nelwan Krisna, a friend of Samsul who joined the search party, said: ‘The river is home to many crocodiles.

'We felt sorry for our neighbour and his family so we helped in looking for his body. We knew that the officers would have problems if we let them search for him on their own.'

On the first day of the search, the team caught a 13ft-long crocodile and a bigger 16ft-long one on the second day. Both were subdued and made to vomit to check if they had human remains inside their stomachs but there were no signs of the fisherman's remains.

After three days on July 22 the team lured out the 26ft-long creature which had to be tranquilised after being caught on the trap. Like the other two, it was made to vomit out before bewildered rescuers found chunks of partially digested human limbs and bones.

Shocked neighbour Nelwan added: ‘His body was found in that massive crocodile. Only the pieces were vomited out, but that was enough to confirm it was him. His body was not intact.'

Tarakan rescue department head Dede Hariana said crocodile attacks continued to increase in the area especially on villages next to rivers.

He said: 'The crocodile attacks in the areas near rivers continued to increase. This case is closed but we appeal to residents to be more vigilant.'

A day after Samsul was found, another fisherman, Baharudin, 29, was attacked by a crocodile in the same region. Baharudin slipped off a makeshift bridge and fell onto Tabur river where a crocodile bit him.

Baharudin's body was found inside the stomach of a crocodile on July 25.

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 combination of factors has caused a 'perfect storm' and lead to rising numbers of crocodile attacks on humans.