Additional Coverage:
- Crocodile snatches man feared eaten alive as brother struggles to prise beast’s jaws open (irishstar.com)
Malaysian Man Feared Lost to Crocodile in River Attack; Tragedies Echo Recent US Alligator Incidents
A young man is feared to have been eaten alive by a crocodile after being snatched from a Malaysian river, an incident witnessed by his horrified brother. The tragedy, which unfolded Saturday evening, underscores the persistent dangers posed by large reptiles in waterways and draws parallels to recent fatal alligator attacks here in the United States.
Trainee electrician Jeffery Masing Win, 21, was swimming in the freshwater of the Sungai Semanok River in Malaysia when the beast reportedly emerged suddenly. His desperate sibling, hearing cries for help, attempted to pry open the reptile’s jaws, but Jeffery was dragged beneath the murky water and vanished.
Alerting emergency services was delayed due to the remote location of the area, a riverside orchard with poor phone coverage. Firefighters and search and rescue volunteers were deployed, but a spokesman for the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department noted that the river’s shallow and narrow conditions prevented direct access to the attack site. Crews were forced to begin their search from an estuary approximately 500 meters away.
“Search operations are being conducted in conjunction with other agencies, with a focus on the area where the victim was reportedly attacked,” a department spokesman stated. The search and rescue team was divided into two groups, scouring both land and water, but as of Sunday, Jeffery Masing Win had not been found.
I Mumin Anda, operations commander, reported that the search continued until 5 p.m. Sunday, covering a five-kilometer radius from the river mouth before being suspended on the advice of Tatau Police. Operations were scheduled to resume Monday morning.
This tragic event is not an isolated incident in the region. Just last month, on September 18, a 12-year-old schoolboy, Arif Fahmi Aiman Mohammad Tinggal, was killed by a crocodile in the same Malaysian state.
He was alone on his boat fishing in the Sungai Kampung Empila river when he was snatched after leaning into the water. His body was recovered two hours later with bite marks.
Sarawak has some of Malaysia’s highest rates of crocodile encounters, primarily involving saltwater crocodiles in rivers and estuaries, prompting authorities to implement culls, warning signs, and public awareness campaigns.
The harrowing nature of these attacks resonates with families impacted by similar tragedies in the U.S. This past summer, a grandmother was ruthlessly attacked and killed by an alligator in Florida.
Furthermore, the incident recalls the devastating 2016 case at Disney World, where two-year-old Lane Graves was snatched by an alligator from the shoreline of the Seven Seas Lagoon. Despite his father’s desperate attempts to save him, the child’s body was recovered after a 16-hour search.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings confirmed at the time, “There’s no question in my mind that the child was drowned by the alligator.”
Such incidents underscore the unpredictable dangers present in natural waterways and serve as a somber reminder for communities globally.