Police in Australia's Northern Territory are hunting for a giant saltwater crocodile that snatched a man (22) in a river and killed him.
The man and his two male companions were riding dirt bikes across rainforest near the Finniss River around 50 miles south west of the state capital Darwin on Sunday when they stopped at the river to wash off mud.
A 13-foot-long saltwater crocodile seized the man after he was swept away by a current. The reptile later turned to the two friends, sending them scrambling up a tree in the river, where they spent 22 hours until police found them yesterday afternoon, a police official said.
"They had gone to the river to cool off," a police spokesman said today. "They were trying to make it to safe ground when they saw the crocodile in the reeds. It grabbed the 22-year-old by the shoulder and he disappeared."
The two survivors were deeply distressed by the ordeal, suffering shock and exposure, the spokesman said. Police planned to interview them again today, he said.