MELBOURNE (Reuters) – An Australian Army soldier suffered serious head and chest injuries after being mauled by a crocodile that attacked him late on Friday, Australia media reported, with a colleague who came to his rescue in Queensland’s far north also bitten.
Australian media said the two soldiers were swimming near a coastal fishing village on the Cape York Peninsula, about 800 kilometres (497 miles) north of Cairns, when attacked. The Royal Flying Doctor Service saying on Twitter it had flown the men to a hospital in Cairns, with media reporting both were in stable condition.
“Two blokes have been swimming in croc-infested waters. One got attacked and the other one tried to help,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), quoted Lockhart River Aboriginal Shire Council Mayor Wayne Butcher as saying.
The soldier who came to aid his colleague suffered arm and wrist injuries, according to media reports. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to the crocodile.
The defence department told ABC both men are Army personnel, but did not say whether they were on duty when the attack happened.
Queensland’s Department of Environment and it would further investigate the incident, with a team of wildlife officers was due to reach the remote area only later on Saturday.
According to data from the Northern Territory government, the state with the highest number of crocodiles in Australia, there are between 100,000 and 200,000 saltwater crocodiles, native to northern Australia, living in the wild in the country.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
