Diver killed in possible crocodile attack

A 56-year-old man is believed to have been killed by a crocodile while diving off the northern Australian coast, police said today.

Police said they recovered the body of the man, whose identity has not been released, from a beach near Cape Don, a remote section of Gurig National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory. A post-mortem examination will be required to determine the exact cause of death, but police Superintendent Dean McMaster said the man had injuries consistent with a crocodile attack.

Another diver also reported seeing a large crocodile nearby, McMaster said.

Yesterday, a post-mortem has confirmed that a British mine worker from Nottingham was killed in a crocodile attack on a remote island off the coast of northern Australia, police said today.

Police and wildlife authorities are hunting a 13-foot crocodile suspected of the attack and plan to move it to a more remote area or shoot it.

Harris had been working for five months at a large manganese mine on the island operated by Anglo-British mining group BHP Billiton.

He disappeared on Saturday while snorkelling off rocks near Picnic Beach, which police said was a popular swimming spot for workers on the island, despite crocodiles inhabiting the area.

Saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to 23 feet in length are common in rivers and in the sea around northern Australia.

Their numbers have exploded in recent years thanks to a ban on widespread hunting imposed in the 1970s when it was feared the animals could be wiped out by people shooting them for their skins.