Latest news Crocodile probably kills child in Australia - desperate search

In Australia, emergency services are continuing to search through the night for a twelve-year-old child who was probably attacked by a crocodile. Officers will use boats and night search equipment to search Mango Creek in the Northern Territory, where the child disappeared while swimming on Tuesday, Australian media quoted police spokeswoman Erica Gibson as saying. The authorities now assume that there is no hope of finding it alive.

"I think it's safe to say we're in the recovery phase," said Police Minister Brent Potter. It has not been revealed whether it is a girl or a boy. The accident occurred near the Aboriginal community of Nganmarriyanga, about 350 kilometers southwest of Darwin.

Family was on vacation

Meanwhile, more details have emerged: The child had been on vacation with his family in the area in the remote Australian bush, wrote Australia's ABC. Several family members were in the water when the child suddenly disappeared. They then saw a crocodile in the immediate vicinity.

Potter spoke of a "tragic incident" and emphasized that it was terrible for a family to lose a child in such circumstances. The emergency services had been instructed to find the crocodile and remove it from the water in order to rescue the child: "These officers are trained as divers and will go into crocodile-infested waters if necessary."

Local volunteers and officers were deployed in boats and a helicopter to search a large section of Mango Creek. Police spokeswoman Gibson said: "We will continue to search and we will not stop. Our thoughts are with the family and the community." She said the creek was deep and dark in places and the area around it was very rough. "It's just a really sad, tragic event, everyone is devastated," Gibson emphasized.

Two fatal attacks per year

Both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles live in the region. Saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to six meters long, are considered far more dangerous and extremely aggressive. Freshwater crocodiles, which can be up to three meters long and are known as "freshies", only attack humans if they feel threatened. However, the attacks are not usually fatal.

According to the government, there are more than 100,000 crocodiles in the Northern Territory. On average, there are two fatal crocodile attacks per year throughout Australia. As recently as June, members of an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory shot and collectively ate a "problem crocodile" that had repeatedly approached animals and people.