The incident occurred when Asidin, 58, and his two children, aboard a wooden boat, were crossing the Sungsang waters, a crocodile habitat, after collecting palm leaves and were headed home on Wednesday at around 8 a.m. local time.
All of a sudden, a crocodile pulled one of the legs of Joni, 30, Asidin's son, and dragged him into water. The victim cried for help but he was already dragged into the water.
Asidin instantaneously jumped into the river in an attempt to save his son but to no avail. He then sought help from the local villagers and security forces.
A SAR team comprising personnel of the Sungmatang Naval post and the Sungsang police was deployed to search for the victim.
After an eight-hour-long search, at 21:30 local time, the SAR team were able to find the crocodile grasping Joni's body in his mouth.
The crocodile resisted when the rescuers attempted to retrieve the body.
"Only after officers had fired shots at the crocodile twice did it finally release the victim’s body and then fled. The SAR team finally managed to obtain the victim’s body," Commander of the Sungsang Water and Air Patrol Police Station, Brigadier Teguh Hari Susanto stated.
On December 9, 2020, a local villager of Banyuasin II Sub-district was also killed in a crocodile attack. Related news: Maluku police kill crocodile that snatched, ate 6-year-old
Related news: Crocodile enters residential area in Kalimantan's East Kotawaringin
Translator: Aziz Munajar, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
