Crocodile Pulls Teen Deeper Into Canal, Younger Brother's Quick-Thinking Saves Him

A teen boy has escaped from the brink of death, thanks to his younger brother who managed to save him from the jaws of a crocodile.

Vikas, 17, and his brother Neeraj, 16, were washing their hands at an irrigation canal in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh after work Friday when the older boy suddenly felt a strong tug on his right leg. Before he knew it, he was being pulled deeper into the canal by an adult mugger crocodile, reported The Times of India.

The distraught teen started screaming and tried his best to resist the large reptile, but to no avail. His strength was no match against the mugger.

In a bid to save his brother from the jaws of death, Neeraj picked up a big stone and threw it at the crocodile, successfully distracting it following which it let go of the boy and swam away swiftly into the canal.

The victim was then rushed to the local community center for first aid. His condition is said to be stable.

Neeraj later told forest officials that they both failed to notice the crocodile while it was basking in the sun near the irrigation canal, which is why Vikas ventured a little too close to it.

"The victim was not expecting the presence of a crocodile in the canal, which is why he was not careful," Gaurav Vishnoi, a cop at the local police station, said.

Forest officials have since advised locals to stay alert while working near irrigation canals, according to The Tribune. They have even put up signboards near human habitats, cautioning people against attacks by crocodiles, given how crocodiles do swim into irrigation canals from flooded rivers during monsoon.

In September, a Florida father trapped an alligator in a trash can to protect his children. When Eugene Bozzi's kids alerted him of an alligator outside their Mount Dora home, he initially thought it was just a baby gator. But when he saw how big the reptile was, he realized they were all in danger unless he did something. He then brought out a trash can and after some struggle, he was able to entrap the gator. The video of the brave dad was posted on Twitter, where it soon became viral.