This is the terrifying moment a father was snatched by a crocodile in front of his horrified family.

Arifuddin, 53, was bathing with relatives along the banks of the Bulete River when the beast latched onto his leg in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Thursday afternoon.

The villager howled as a sharp pain shot through his side. He battled to escape, but the predator clamped its jaws onto his limb before dragging him away from land.

Dramatic footage shows Arifuddin extending his arm as he struggles to stay afloat in the middle of the river. Several locals waded into the river in a desperate attempt to save him amid bloodcurdling screams.

However, the father-of-four disappeared under the rippling surface before the men could reach him.

Rescue teams were sent to the scene in Wajo Regency following the horrific attack at 6 pm local time. They found the croc parading Arifuddin's body around in the turbid waters, but were unable to retrieve his remains immediately.

The crocodile spent several hours circling the river before coming to rest on a riverbank around a mile away from where Arifuddin was attacked.

Residents used a makeshift snare to pull the beast closer, engaging it in a tense tug-of-war before they managed to drive it away by hurling stones.

Arifuddin's corpse was collected and returned to his family for a funeral.

Jerry Saputra, from the Pitumpanua Sector Fire Rescue Team, said: 'Initially, the victim was bathing with his relatives. But shortly after, he was heard screaming. It became evident to his relatives that a crocodile had attacked him.'

'We managed to evacuate the victim, and the distance was around one mile from the starting point where the he was attacked.'

Locals said they were alarmed as the river, which was a regular spot for them to bathe and wash laundry, was not known to be a crocodile habitat.

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.