Man killed by crocodile as he attempted to cross river in Australia

A man has been killed by a crocodile during an attempt to cross a flooded river in the northern Australian wilderness.

The 47-year-old was wading through the East Alligator River with two women at the "notorious" Cahill's Crossing, when he disappeared near the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.

The women made the crossing safely then reported the man missing.

Police and rangers discovered his body downstream near an 11ft crocodile, which was shot dead.

It has been reported the three lived in a nearby Aboriginal community.

Cahill's Crossing is a renowned fishing spot for prized barramundi, but attracts crocodiles as well as anglers.

Police Sergeant Bob Harrison said: "The signs are saying not to swim or even go in the water at Cahill's Crossing.

"There's been a lot of media attention around that crossing. People continue to do it."

"Cahill's Crossing is notorious for crocodiles and to walk across it to me is just foolishness," Duty Superintendent Bob Harrison told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"You are tempting fate, knowing the size of the crocodiles in that area."

The tragedy is the first fatal crocodile attack in Australia since a 46-year-old woman was killed during a late-night swim in the World Heritage-listed Daintree National Park in Queensland in May last year.

Since crocodiles became a protected species under federal law in 1971, numbers in the Northern Territory have exploded from 3,000 to an estimated 80,000 to 100,000.