Melbourne:
An Australian Army soldier suffered critical head and chest injuries soon after getting 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 mentioned the two soldiers have been swimming close to 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 males to a hospital in Cairns, with media reporting each have been in steady situation.
“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 help his colleague suffered arm and wrist injuries, according to media reports. It wasn’t instantly clear what occurred to the crocodile.
The defence division told ABC each males are Army personnel, but did not say irrespective of whether they have been on duty when the attack occurred.
Queensland’s Department of Environment and it would additional investigate the incident, with a group of wildlife officers was due to attain the remote region only later on Saturday.
According to information from the Northern Territory government, the state with the highest quantity of crocodiles in Australia, there are amongst one hundred,000 and 200,000 saltwater crocodiles, native to northern Australia, living in the wild in the nation.
()