A grandmother was killed by a crocodile while fishing in a river in Indonesia.

Sawiyah, 64, was collecting shrimp from her traps when the river beast latched onto her left hand in the Aceh Singkil Regency, at around 7:30 am on February 8. The reptile then dragged the frail elderly woman into the water.

Police and villagers launched a search after Sawiyah's son reported her missing when she failed to return from her morning errand.

Azmi, a search volunteer, said: 'This is another incident, a crocodile pounced on a mother who was collecting her shrimp traps. Residents from the neighbouring village have also joined the search.'

The team found the missing grandmother's body trapped in the croc's jaws at around 1:40 am on February 9. The predator had reportedly been trying to climb the riverbank with her corpse in its mouth before returning into the water.

Local district chief Khairuddin said: 'The search team saw the crocodile heading towards the edge. When approached, it suddenly let go of the victim's body and immediately returned to the river.'

Footage shows the locals transferring Sawiyah's body onto a rubber boat to be returned to the village. They said her body was still intact, save for her left hand that was still missing.

The local village head warned the community to be more vigilant when using the river. He said: 'The current situation requires immediate attention and action from the authorities to ensure the safety of residents. This latest tragedy adds to the urgency of a long-term solution to crocodile attacks in the river area.'

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 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.