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Plantation worker killed in suspected crocodile attack
Subli was washing his hands in the canal when he suddenly disappeared.
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A freshwater crocodile swimming in a lagoon near the Padma in Pabna's Char Komorpur. This is the second time a freshwater crocodile has been spotted in a Bangladeshi river in the last 50 years. Photo: Star (The Daily Star/ANN)
A
man identified as Subli, 35, a worker at PT Riau Sakti United Plantations (RSUP) in Indragiri Hilir regency, Riau, was killed in a suspected crocodile attack while fishing in a canal at a coconut farm owned by the company.
Subli, who was a resident of Pulau Burung village in Pekanbaru, Riau, had decided to go fishing with his coworker, Agus Riyanto, on Wednesday afternoon. They traveled for an hour on a motorcycle to reach the fishing site.
At around 10 p.m., Subli left Agus to wash his hands in the canal, which was only 10 meters away, before eating his packed dinner. That was the last time Agus saw Subli.
“Not long afterward, Agus heard a noise, like something falling into the water – it was quite loud. Subli had disappeared,” Pulau Burung Police chief, First Insp. Erizal, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Agus then went to where he last saw Subli washing his hands. Using his torch, he inspected the water and reportedly saw air bubbles floating to the surface then moving from the edge of the water to the middle of the pond.
Fearing that a crocodile had attacked Subli, Agus rushed home and told an RSUP security guard about what had happened.
“The incident was then reported to the local security guards and the police,” Erizal said.
A group of residents and police and military personnel soon began searching for Subli, whose body was found the next day, some 3 kilometers from where he and Agus were fishing.
“After an autopsy was performed by the Teluk Belengkong community health center, the victim’s body was immediately transferred to the home of his siblings in Teluk Bakau village, Pengaliran district,” Erizal added.
Several crocodile attacks have occurred within the RSUP compound. In January last year, a freelance worker of the company identified as Tulus, 40, was attacked by a crocodile as he was resting at the edge of the same canal in which Subli disappeared.
His body was found a few hours later, 5 m away from where he was last seen.
