After a night swimming on a beach in far North Queensland in Australia, authorities report that a 46-year-old woman might be dead in a crocodile attack.

The woman, who was visiting with a friend, were reportedly taking a late swim in waist deep water on the Thornton Beach, in the Daintree National Park in Cairns. The unfortunate event occurred at about 10.30 p.m. Sunday night as the woman was taken by a crocodile.

Warren Entsch, North Queensland member of parliament and a representative of the region, believes the crocodile is not to be blamed for the attack, but the victim. “You can’t legislate against human stupidity,” Entsch was quoted on Monday.

It is a tragedy, no-one is denying that, but it is well-known that Thornton Beach is in close proximity to a creek where tourism operators conduct crocodile-spotting tours. Sadly, this incident was completely avoidable.

“You can only get there by ferry, and there are signs there saying watch out for the bloody crocodiles,” Entsch added. “If you go in swimming at 10 o’clock at night, you’re going to get consumed.”

According to Neil Noble, a senior operations supervisor at Queensland Ambulance Service, said that even though emergency services had been called immediately after the attack, the staff was still looking for the victim.

“We were called down to Thornton beach late last evening for reports of a female that was walking in the water with another lady and it has been alleged that a crocodile has come and grabbed one of the ladies and pulled her into the ocean,” he reported.

In spite of an extensive overnight search, the body hasn’t been found yet at the moment of this reporting. Police also revealed the woman’s friend – who had fought the crocodile as she tried to pull the victim to safety – is being treated for extreme shock at a local hospital.

Crocodile-infested waters are rather common at the top North of Australia, but swimming is clearly prohibited in the areas where crocodiles are found and marked by warning signs.

Due to these safety measures, attacks are not that common. Between 2005 and 2015, only 15 people were fatally killed by crocodile attacks.
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