The remains of a 12-year-old girl have been found near Palumpa in Australia’s Northern Territory after she was attacked by a crocodile while swimming in the creek
The remains of a 12-year-old girl who was snatched by a crocodile while swimming in a creek in remote northern Australia have been found by police.
The tragic discovery was made in the river system near Palumpa, a remote town southwest of Darwin in the Northern Territory, according to Police Senior Sergeant Erica Gibson, and confirmed that the girl was the victim of a crocodile attack.
“The recovery has been made. It was particularly gruesome and a sad, devastating outcome,” Gibson told reporters.
Efforts are ongoing to capture the killer crocodile, with saltwater crocs known to be territorial and likely to stay in nearby waterways.
The girl’s disappearance triggered a 36-hour land, water, and air search, with locals from the small indigenous community joining the hunt.
The Northern Territory is home to over 100,000 crocodiles, which can grow up to six meters (20 feet) long, though fatal attacks are rare.
Once hunted to near extinction, saltwater crocodiles have rebounded since hunting was banned in the 1970s. This is the first fatal crocodile attack in the Northern Territory since at least 2018, local media report.
In a dramatic incident last November, Colin Deveraux, a cattle producer survived a saltwater crocodile attack near the Finniss River.
He miraculously survived by grabbing the 3.2 metre long beast, holding back its eyelid and biting it back.
“The water had receded and it was down to this dirty water in the middle. I took two steps and the dirty b*****d [the crocodile] latched onto my right foot,” he explained how the attack unfolded.
“I was in such an awkward position… but by accident, my teeth caught his eyelid. It was pretty thick, like holding onto leather, but I jerked back on his eyelid and he let go.
“I leapt away and took off with great steps up to where my car was. He chased me for a bit, maybe four metres, but then stopped.”
