Girl Falls Into Crocodile Enclosure, Reptiles Eat Toddler Alive

In a horrific incident, crocodiles ate a 2-year-old girl alive after she accidentally fell inside a pit of reptiles at her family farm in Cambodia, police said. According to local media reports, the child's mother was busy caring for her newborn baby when she lost sight of the toddler.

The girl, identified as Rom Roath Neary, wandered away from the house near Siem Reap on Monday morning. Hours later, the father Min Min, 35, noticed that his daughter had gone missing and started looking for her.

According to the Sun, the father found his daughter’s skull stripped of flesh on the ground of a concrete crocodile enclosure. Local media reports shared heart-wrenching photos of the mother breaking down in tears while holding the remains of the toddler.

“Her father found only her skull in the crocodile enclosure, where she was killed by crocodiles," Police Chief Capt. Chem Chamnan said, adding that the family had recently built a fence around the 10-foot-high concrete pool as the children went to play on the land around the crocodile farm.

Describing events of the tragic day, Lt. Och Sophen, chief of Siem Reap police, said the mother “lost sight of” the 2-year-old as she was attending to her other child.

“When the father came back home, he couldn’t find his daughter in the house. He found a skull in the crocodile enclosure," Sophen said. “He confirmed that the daughter fell into the crocodile enclosure and that the crocodiles killed her, leaving only her skull.”

“We convey our condolences to the family. The mother hugged her daughter’s head, shocked,” he added. “We appeal to all families who have crocodile farms to pay attention to all family members, especially small children.”

In February, a saltwater crocodile mauled a man to death in Malaysia while he was hunting for crabs with his nephew. The incident took place by a river in Sarawak state on the jungle-clad Borneo island. Muh Tahir Majid Syam, a 40-year-old Indonesian man, was reported missing and later his head popped up above the water's surface before sinking again. Authorities suspected that the crocodile might have dragged the body underwater.