DRAGGED TO HER DEATH
Crocodile drowns girl, 17, as she swims in river in Indonesia but fails to eat her as it has no teeth
AN ELDERLY crocodile was caught after drowning a teenage girl - but it failed to eat her because all its teeth were missing.
The 16.5ft long beast pounced on Devi Binti Sulaiman, 17, while she was cooling off with friends near the Sebamban River in South Kalimantan, Indonesia, in the afternoon of May 10 as temperatures reached 34C.
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Devi's terrified pals screamed as the croc clamped its jaws around her arm and she was dragged underwater.
They called for help and hundreds of villagers gathered along the river to search for Devi.
But tragically, the teenager's lifeless body was found five hours later around 100m from where she was attacked.
Bizarrely for a crocodile attack, her body was found in one piece.
And villagers who caught the massive reptile on Friday using chickens as bait soon discovered the reason why.
The crocodile was missing all of its front teeth due to old age or illness.
'TOOTHLESS'
Police Commissioner Apri, from the Loban River Police Department, said: "No wonder the victim's body was intact, the crocodile was toothless."
The reptile was tied up and pulled ashore, as hundreds of locals gathered along the river bank to watch.
The head of the Tanah Bumbu Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), Eryanto Rais, said: ''When found, the victim's condition was very critical. She was bleeding from her nose, mouth and hand.
"Officers rushed her to the nearest community health centre, but they could not save her.''
Head of the Conservation Section Region III of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency of South Kalimantan, Nikmat Hakim Pasaribu, said the crocodile had now been entrusted to the Jhonlin Conservation Institute.
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The institution is located in Tanah Bumbu Regency and specialises in crocodile breeding.
Hakim said: "The crocodile was captured by residents while it was still alive.
"We picked it up and then we left it to the Jhonlin conservation agency."
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