Australian police have found human remains while searching for a 12-year-old boy they believe was the victim of a crocodile attack.
The child was last seen on Tuesday, swimming with his family near the remote Aboriginal town of Nganmarriyanga – about a seven-hour drive southwest of Darwin in the Northern Territory (NT).
“This is heartbreaking news for the family, the community and everyone involved in the search,” Sergeant Erica Gibson said, adding that police would support all those affected.
Earlier, Sergeant Gibson told ABC News that a black alligator had been seen in the vicinity.
As many as 40 members of the public helped police search for the child, which began shortly after the 12-year-old was reported missing. They scoured the area on foot, by boat and by helicopter, covering challenging terrain with thick vegetation and a narrow, winding waterway.
No details were given as to whether the crocodile suspected of attacking the child had been found.
Earlier on Wednesday, NT Police Minister Brent Potter said wildlife officers had been given permission to “relocate” the crocodile from the area after it was located and reiterated the government’s safety message.
“We live where crocodiles take over the water sources… this is just a reminder to stay away from water as much as possible.”
Found across Australia’s northern fringes – from Broome in Western Australia to Gladstone in Queensland – saltwater crocodiles were hunted to near extinction but numbers have rebounded since hunting was banned in the 1970s.
The NT is home to an estimated 100,000 saltwater crocodiles, more than anywhere else in the world. However, attacks are uncommon.
There have been at least two other crocodile attacks in the NT in the past year – a nine-year-old boy was injured in January while swimming in Kakadu National Park, and a farmer escaped the beast’s jaws by biting it in October – but no fatal attacks have occurred there since 2018.
However, Queensland has suffered a series of deadly attacks in recent years, including the killing of a 16-year-old boy in the Torres Strait in April.
