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Schoolboy, 15, who was fishing on riverbank is dragged away to his death by crocodile

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A schoolboy was killed by a crocodile while he was fishing on a riverbank in Indonesia.

Muhammad Nur Akbar, 15, was catching fish with his friends at the Santan Ulu River in East Kalimantan on Tuesday.

Despite warnings from his classmates, he dipped his feet to wash in the murky brown waters, only for a 30ft crocodile to surge forward and sink its large fangs into his thigh.

Muhammad screamed for help as his friends raced over and grabbed his shirt in a desperate tug-of-war with the croc. However, they were overpowered, with the beast dragging Muhammad away into the depths.

Rescue teams were notified of the deadly attack. They arrived at the scene, where they found the predator still holding the boy's motionless corpse.

Gruesome footage shows the reptile clutching the lifeless teen as it glides upstream near the river's edge.

Fida Hurasani, head of the Kutai Kartanegara Regency Fire and Rescue Department, said: 'The incident occurred during the day. Residents immediately reported it to officers, including the police, and a search was launched immediately.

'During the evacuation process, the crocodile was shot to release the boy's leg. We managed to bring the body to the surface shortly afterwards.'

Authorities said Muhammad's body was successfully collected at 11:50 pm local time. His condition was described as 'horrific', with severe injuries to his right leg and thigh.

His remains were handed over to his family for burial.

Village head Heri Budianto said the last deadly crocodile attack in the area occurred in 2015.

Local authorities have banned residents from fishing in the river to prevent further casualties.

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.

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