An 80-Year-Old Man Loses His Life After a Crocodile Attack in Sumatra

SadaNews - A crocodile attacked an 80-year-old man and killed him on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, local media reported on Monday.

Local authorities stated that the man wanted to wash his feet in the shallow waters of the "Way Sumaka" river in the southern part of the island after cutting grass in his garden adjacent to the river.

The Indonesian news agency "Antara" quoted the local police chief as saying: "A passerby saw the man leave his clothes on the riverbank and noticed a crocodile behaving suspiciously in the water."

The agency's report indicated that after about an hour, the crocodile resurfaced with the man's body in its jaws.

The local newspaper "Kompas" reported that the crocodile dragged the body approximately 200 meters before villagers began throwing stones at it to force it to release its prey.

The police added: "The crocodile eventually left its victim, but only after the man had died," warning residents to exercise extreme caution near the river, which is a known habitat for crocodiles.

In May of last year, another man died in a crocodile attack in Sumatra, but this occurred in a water channel.

According to the organization "Croc Attack", 1,167 people in Indonesia have been attacked by crocodiles between 2015 and 2024, a number that far exceeds that of any other country in the world. Of these attacks, 556 were fatal.