Latest news Human remains found in crocodile in Australia

SDA

6.8.2024 - 09:52

ARCHIVE - On average, there are two fatal crocodile attacks per year in Australia. Photo: Carola Frentzen/dpa
ARCHIVE - On average, there are two fatal crocodile attacks per year in Australia. Photo: Carola Frentzen/dpa
Keystone

A few days after the disappearance of a 40-year-old angler in north-eastern Australia, human remains have been found in a crocodile that was killed there.

Keystone-SDA

Police in the state of Queensland announced that they were not yet certain that this was the man who was presumed to have been attacked by a crocodile on Saturday. However, it is considered very likely. Corresponding identification investigations are still ongoing. The search for the man is currently suspended.

Rangers had previously killed a crocodile that had been spotted from a helicopter about four kilometers from the scene of the accident, as the wildlife authority announced on Monday. It had been identified by a distinctive white scar on its snout. The carcass of the animal, which was almost five meters long and probably several decades old, was handed over to the police.

The suspected attack happened on Saturday in the north of the tropical state of Queensland on the Annan River, which is popular with anglers. Initial investigations revealed that the man from the neighboring state of New South Wales had been fishing on the banks of the river. He then fell into the water and did not resurface, according to a police statement.

On average, there are two fatal crocodile attacks per year in Australia. As recently as July, there was a fatal crocodile attack on a twelve-year-old girl in the country. Rangers later killed a 4.2 meter long reptile in the Northern Territory. The child had been swimming near an Aboriginal community before disappearing. Emergency services later discovered the girl's remains.