A woman was fatally attacked by a crocodile while bathing in a river in eastern Indonesia.

The incident occurred on Tuesday when 54-year-old Halima Rahakbauw was swimming in a river in Wali village on the Maluku islands after spending the morning collecting clams.

PHOTO | COURTESY a crocodile

When Rahakbauw did not return home, her neighbor, Rustam Ilyas, and other villagers initiated a search. They discovered a sandal and a body part in the river, prompting them to alert the authorities.

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Police, with assistance from the villagers, tracked down and killed the crocodile responsible for the attack. Upon cutting open the reptile's belly, they found some of the victim’s remains.

The crocodile, estimated to be around four meters (12 feet) long, was not identified by species. This tragic event follows another fatal crocodile attack just days earlier, where a 63-year-old tin miner was killed by a crocodile on Bangka island in Sumatra.

PHOTO | COURTESY a crocodile

Indonesia, home to several species of crocodiles, has a history of frequent crocodile attacks on humans. In 2018, nearly 300 crocodiles were slaughtered by a mob in Papua after a man was killed by one of the reptiles.

In 2019, a scientist was fatally dragged into a captive crocodile's enclosure on Sulawesi Island.