A 24-year-old man who ignored warnings to stay out of a river in northern Australia is feared to have been killed by a huge crocodile.
A shocked friend told staff at a caravan and camping park east of Darwin that the man and a friend jumped into the crocodile-infested Mary River for a swim on Saturday (local time), ignoring all warnings.
The friend then watched helplessly as a huge crocodile grabbed hold of the man and pulled him under.
Lethal: Saltwater crocodiles pull their victims
to the riverbed and roll them around until they drown, before partially
eating them - and storing the rest for later
The victim has not been seen since.
Northern Watch Commander Peter Lindfield said water police were on the scene searching for the missing man with the help of Parks and Wildlife rangers in the hope that he might have been able to break free from the crocodile's jaws and swim to the river bank.
Miss Erin Baynard, who works at the Mary River Wilderness Retreat and Caravan Park, said the friend reported the incident around 4pm.
She said the two men went swimming somewhere between the accommodation block and the nearby Arnhem Highway bridge but she was unsure exactly where, and that they would have been well aware of the dangers of venturing into the water.
'The friend came back in deep shock and it was obvious just by looking at him that something bad had happened,' she said.
'He was saying over and over that a crocodile had taken his friend.
Idyllic: The Mary River, where the attack took place, is a popular destination for campers east of Darwin
'The tragedy here is that everybody knows that the river is dangerous - there are more crocs in it than any other river in the Northern Territory.
'We tell everybody not to go into the water because of the lurking danger.'
A few small groups of campers remained by the river.
'There's nothing much I can say, it's just a tragedy,' one of the campers said.
The saltwater crocodiles of the Northern Territory are among the deadliest species on earth, likened in their ferocity to the great white shark.
'Salties', as they are known, will pull their victims to the bottom of a river and roll them around until they drown before eating part of them.
They then 'store' the remainder of the victim in some underwater area to be consumed later.
The last fatal crocodile attack in the Northern Territory was in December 2012, when a nine-year-old boy was killed near Dhania, 100km south of Nhulunbuy, when he was swimming with a group.
Adults tried to save the boy but the crocodile dragged him into deeper water.
Infested: The calm waters hide the hundreds of crocodile living in the Mary River
Community members turned out to have been feeding 13ft-long crocodile with fish and wallaby carcasses for several years.
]In November 2012 a seven-year-old girl was killed by a crocodile at Gumarrirngbang outstation, near Maningrida.
Three other people, including two children, have been killed by crocodiles since 2009.
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