A YOUNG boy has been mauled to death by a huge crocodile while swimming with his pals in Indonesia.
Affan, 10, and his friends were cooling off in the Inggoi River in North Maluku when the beast gnawed his torso and dragged him beneath the murky depths.
His two pals frantically waded out of the river on Tuesday afternoon and raced back to the village to alert authorities – they were too late.
Affan tragically passed away after the brutal onslaught.
Horrifying footage, which The Sun has chosen not to release, shows the leviathan croc carrying the boy in its jaws in front of horrified locals.
The monster can be seen diving deeper under the surface, attempting to drown the child.
DOG HORROR
Baby mauled to death by family pitbull in horror dog attack at home
Hendra Gunawan, South Halmahera Police Chief, said the area was a known crocodile hotspot.
He said: “Crocodiles still often appear there. The locals say they’re swamp crocodiles.”
A joint search team of police, soldiers, and rescue volunteers set out to scour the waters, taking extra care amid fears of more chilling crocodile attacks.
Search efforts continued until early morning on Thursday, December 18, when the crocodile resurfaced near a pier in the middle of the village.
Residents gathered to watch as rescuers drove the reptile from the area, leaving Affan’s corpse just a few feet away.
His body was hauled onto a boat and later returned to his family.
Iwan Ramdani, head of the Ternate search and rescue office, said: “The search was carried out using Basarnas rubber boats and community longboats as well as fishing boats, combing the coast along the Inggoi River to the sea surface.
“With the victim’s death and his body handed over to his family, the search and rescue operation is complete and closed. All involved elements have been returned to their respective units.”
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.
They also believe habitat loss from the development of coastal areas into farms could contribute to the issue.
Rampant tin mining has seen villagers encroach on crocodiles’ natural habitats, pushing the creatures closer toward people’s homes.
With locals in the developing country still using rivers for bathing and primitive fishing, the deadly combination of factors has led to rising numbers of horror crocodile attacks.
This comes after a video emerged online of a woman being ruthlessly dragged down a river between the jaws of a croc.
The sinister creature was caught by witnesses after 57-year-old Soudamini Mahala was snapped up as she bathed in the Kharastrota River in India.
The huge reptile could be seen swimming through the water with Mahala’s lifeless body in its mouth.
Shocked villagers shouted in surprise in the background audio of the video.
Despite cries for help, nobody was able to reach the woman in time.
Witnesses said the crocodile lunged at the unsuspecting woman and pulled her into the water before anyone could react.
Locals rushed to the river, too late to save the victim from the crocodile’s death grip.
The ordeal took place in Kantia village, in the Jajpur district Odisha, in eastern India.
“Villagers present on the riverbank tried to chase the reptile but failed to rescue her,” a police spokesperson said.