Horrifying footage has shown the moment a crocodile emerges from a river with a woman in its jaws after dragging her beneath the water and mauling her to death.
Tarti Kolengsusu, 43, had been gathering water spinach from the Air Biak River in South Buru with her friends when the huge reptile latched onto her leg on Wednesday morning.
The terrified mother screamed for help during the attack, waving her arms as she desperately battled to stay above the water.
She grabbed her friends’ hands and they tried to pull her back onto the riverbank, but the powerful beast yanked her from their grasp.
Rescuers and local residents rushed to the scene after hearing news of the attack, but tragically they found Tarti already dead in the croc’s jaws.
Footage shows the predator seemingly taunting the officers as it swam near land while holding the villager’s lifeless body.
It continued circling the river, weaving up and down with the woman’s long hair flowing eerily underwater as people are heard screaming and shouting in horror.
Locals were only able to collect her body around two hours later after the crocodile released her.
Gruesome footage has shown the moment a crocodile emerges from a river with a dead woman in its mouth
The crocodile continued circling the river, weaving up and down with the woman’s long hair flowing eerily underwater
Horrified locals tried to prize the dead woman’s body from the beasts jaws for two hours
Tarti Kolengsusu, 43, had been gathering water spinach with her friends when the huge reptile latched onto her leg on Wednesday morning
The local police chief reportedly said in a statement: ‘The victim and her three friends picked water spinach on the other side of the river.
‘An hour later, they were crossing the water to go home when she suddenly shouted.
‘She was screaming “help me, I’m in danger!” At that time she was behind the group and drowning in the middle of the river.
‘One of her friends, Wati, tried to pull the victim to the edge of the river, but she let go because she was afraid of also drowning.
‘After searching for more than two hours, the victim was found dead. She has been taken back to her home for a funeral.
‘The South Buru Police will convene with the local government and related agencies to discuss mitigation efforts.
‘It is hoped that in the future there will be no more fatalities caused by crocodiles.’
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.
Locals were able to collect her body around two hours later after the crocodile released her
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.
Widespread tin mining has also caused villagers to encroach on the crocodiles’ natural habitats, pushing them closer toward people’s homes.
With locals continuing to use the rivers for bathing and fishing despite the dangers, this deadly combination of factors has led to rising numbers of crocodile attacks.
Indonesia sees the most saltwater crocodile attacks in the world, with around 1,000 in the decade up to 2023 killing more than 450 people.
