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Child missing after suspected crocodile attack in remote Australia

The child disappeared on Tuesday evening after swimming at Mango Creek near Palumpa



Crocodile attacks are rare but not unheard of in Australia's sparsely populated Northern Territory. (For illustrative purposes only)
Image Credit: Pixabay

Sydney: A 12-year-old missing in remote northern Australia may have been "attacked by a crocodile", police said Wednesday as search teams combed a creek for signs of the child.

The child disappeared on Tuesday evening after swimming at Mango Creek near Palumpa, a small, largely Indigenous settlement about seven hours' drive southwest of territory capital Darwin.

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"Initial reports stated the child had been attacked by a crocodile," Northern Territory Police said in a statement, adding that officers were now "searching a large section of the creek via boat".

Crocodile attacks are rare but not unheard of in Australia's sparsely populated Northern Territory.

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A 4.5 metre (15 foot) crocodile was shot and killed after stalking locals near Palumpa in 2013.

In 2017, a 54-year-old man was mauled in a non-fatal attack in the same area.

Earlier this year, a saltwater crocodile was shot, cooked and eaten after menacing a different Northern Territory community.

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