A killer crocodile appeared to taunt a search team when it surfaced on a river - holding the victim in its jaws.

The ferocious reptile leapt from the water to snatch tin miner Atak, 35, as he walked along a path on the banks near the digging site in Indonesia on January 20.

Colleagues who heard the father-of-two's pained screams rushed to the scene and found him being thrashed around by the powerful croc. They raced to grab him but the predator dragged his limp body into the murky depths around the Bangka Belitung Islands.

Villagers called the local search and rescue team for help at 11:30 am.

Footage shows brave officers riding wooden rafts as they paddled in the underweath through the water looking for the missing miner amid a downpour. Moments later, the sinister crocodile emerged from the river holding the dead man in its jaws as if to taunt them.

They continued monitoring the river until the worker's corpse was found floating some 30ft (9m) from the riverbank.

Oka Astawa, head of the local search and rescue office, said in a statement: 'The victim was named Atak. He was 35 years old and he was found dead with bite marks on the right side of his waist.

'There was a long search for him, which was joined by his colleagues, police and villagers. During the search, the crocodile rose from the water and showed the dead body to the rescue team. If the crocodile was a human, we would say they were arrogant.'

The local official said the crocodile responsible for the death is yet to be captured. He said renewed warnings have now been made about the dangers of crocs in the area.

Oka added: 'Conflicts between humans and these wild predators have recently occurred in the Bangka Belitung Islands. We always appeal to the public who are doing activities in the waters to always maintain their own safety and security.

'As the search is successful, this operation is now closed. We would like to thank the joint search and rescue team who helped.'

Atak's body was taken to a local hospital before being handed over to his family for burial. His death is the second fatal crocodile attack in the Indonesian province this year.

On January 11, a schoolgirl named Caca, 5, was wading into a reservoir to join her parents for a bath when she was attacked by the beast in Bukit Layang Village. She was found the next day with her head crushed by the croc's powerful jaws.

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.

Conservationists believe that crocodiles have been driven further inland 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 uneducated 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.