A hapless villager was ripped apart by a crocodile while wading through a river in Indonesia.
Riki, 28, and his friend Debi were crossing the Parung Dawas River to collect crude oil in South Sumatra province on September 14 evening.
They entered a prohibited area to extract the precious fuel from an illegal oil well leak when the hungry reptile pounced on Riki as they were nearing the edge of the river.
Debi said he heard Riki screaming for help before disappearing under the surface of the river.
He said: 'Riki shouted that his leg hurt. He asked for help and said there was a crocodile. It dragged him into the river before I could reach him. I was afraid there were more crocodiles in the water so I didn't dare venture farther.'
Muba Police Chief AKBP Listiyono Dwi Nugroho confirmed the crocodile attack on September 15. He said: 'There was a report of a resident drowning after being attacked by a crocodile in the Parung River, Sungai Lilin District.'
Volunteers and rescue teams searched the river and found Riki's mangled remains at around 10am the next day. His left hand and right leg had been torn and his body had begun to decompose.
Authorities installed zinc fences and barbed wires in the prohibited area following the attack.
The Muba police chief urged government officials to clean up the oil leak to prevent similar incidents from occurring. He said: 'I appeal to the public, please do not be reckless in doing such acts. And I also hope that there will be other efforts from the government so that this community has more jobs and increased welfare so that such things do not happen again.'
Just four days earlier, a fisherman was also attacked by a river crocodile in North Sumatra.
Irfan Rotinga was fishing for dinner at the Simangalam River when the reptile leapt out of the water and chomped down on his leg. His friend, Irna, engaged the beast in a fierce 10-minute tug-of-war before finally wresting the angler from its jaws.
The Indonesian archipelago is home to 14 types of crocs - with a large population of extremely large and violent estuarine crocodiles that flourish in the region's climate.
Conservationists believe that crocodiles have been driven further inland closer to villages due to overfishing reducing the crocodiles' natural food supplies combined with habitat loss from the development of coastal areas into farms.
With uneducated locals in the developing country still using rivers for bathing and primitive fishing, the deadly combination of factors has led to rising numbers of crocodile attacks.
On August 20, grandmother Halima Rahakbauw, 54, was dismembered by a crocodile while washing pots in the Wali River in Maluku, Indonesia.
While on August 29, villager M Yunus, 68, was torn in half in a croc attack while bathing in the Peureulak River in Aceh province.
