A villager was reportedly ripped apart by a crocodile while fishing in a river in Indonesia.

Damianus Barus, 54, had set off to catch shrimp in the Lonu River in East Kalimantan, on April 8.

He was wading into the brown-green water to set up his nets when the beast burst out of the river. The ravenous predator was said to have torn him apart with its brutal 'death roll', before dragging him away to feast on his body.

Damianus's worried family reported to the police when he failed to return home that evening, which they said was highly unusual.

Volunteers went to the river and found a bucket, a torn fishing net, and suspected crocodile tracks at the scene.

They continued the search overnight, until they found the gruesome remains of the fisherman scattered in the water the following morning, April 9. His entrails were recovered some 4.5 kilometres (3 miles) downstream for where he left his belongings.

Marwansyah of the local disaster response team said: 'During the search, human body organs were found, namely ribs, intestines and a gall bladder which are strongly suspected to belong to the victim who was attacked by a crocodile.

'Usually the victim returns home right away after collecting shrimp to use as fishing bait. But he was still missing in the evening, so the family asked for help to look for him.'

Footage shows the killer 16ft croc lurking in the area as officers continued to scour the river.

Rescue workers said they have enlisted the help of the army and soldiers due to the sheer size of the reptile. They said the search was ongoing for the fisherman's body parts.

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.

Widespread tin mining has also caused villagers to encroach on the crocodiles' natural habitats, pushing the creatures closer toward people's homes.

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.