On July 27, Falmira De Jesus, a 38-year-old palm oil plantation farmer from Indonesia’s West Kalimantan Province, was collecting water from a shallow, greenery-covered stream in Ketapang Regency when she was suddenly attacked by a crocodile lying in wait.

As the woman approached the body of water, the giant reptile leaped up from the foliage, grabbed her leg, and dragged her into the water.

Somehow, Falmira managed to cry for help and fight the crocodile long enough for her plantation co-workers to arrive and help her. Viral footage shows the brave woman with only her head above water as she literally tries to hang on for her life to wooden poles extended in the water by her co-workers, while others prod the water with sticks to discourage the crocodile.

“I was in pain from where the crocodile was holding me. I couldn’t break free,” Falmira recalled. “Then I started to feel like I was becoming weaker. I just thought I was going to die, because I was falling below the water.”

Eyewitnesses said that the crocodile gripped Falmira for 90 minutes and repeatedly tried to pull her down into the water. Luckily for her, the water wasn’t deep enough, and, over time, more people arrived to help. Eventually, the reptile decided to let go of its prey and retreat. The bravest of her co-workers ventured into the water to get her out, and she was rushed to the nearest hospital.

“I lie in the hospital and can still see the crocodile in my mind, and feel it on my body,” the 38-year-old survivor said. “I am very grateful for people that helped me to escape. They saved my life.”

Doctors told Indonesian reporters that the mother-of-two suffered deep puncture wounds on her right arm, thigh, and lower leg, but is scheduled to make a full recovery, which many consider nothing short of a miracle.

Local police praised both Falmira for bravely fighting the crocodile for over 90 minutes, as well as the people who helped her through the ordeal, but also warned workers and residents around the plantation to be more vigilant when approaching bodies of water. After all, Indonesia is home to 14 different species of crocodile.

It follows rumours that a pregnant staff nurse collapsed after the student nurse transmogrified into the green reptile.

According to reports, the student nurse had been sent by the pregnant nurse to buy her gari and beans.

When she returned from the errand with the food, the pregnant nurse got furious that the student had not followed her orders to buy the beans and ended up raining insults on her.

The student nurse was, however, unhappy about the behaviour of the staff nurse and went into the nurses’ quarters to sit there.

She is alleged to have turned into a crocodile immediately after the pregnant nurse entered that room, causing the latter to collapse.

The staff nurse was admitted at the hospital for days after the alleged incident.

But the hospital in a statement signed by the Medical Superintendent, Dr Kwame Agyeman said no such incident happened at the facility.

“We wish to inform the general public that the publication is false and no such incident has happened in the hospital”.

It urged the public to treat “the publication with contempt that it deserves.”

Amelie Osborn-Smith, from Andover, Hampshire, had been enjoying a day of white water rafting in the Zambezi River below Victoria Falls in Zambia when she was attacked by the 10ft beast which put her into a ‘death roll’.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the 18-year-old’s father said that his daughter had been resting her leg over the side of the boat when the crocodile clamped its jaws around her calf and dragged her under the water.  

Brent Osborn-Smith, 60, an Army Major-turned-osteopath, said: “The crocodile saw her leg dangling in the water and thought ‘there’s lunch’.  

Amelie Osborn-Smith, 18, who is the daughter of a German Baroness, was rafting in the Zambezi River below Victoria Falls, Zambia, when she was attacked by a 10ft crocodile.

 Amelie (pictured) is in hospital in Zambia where she had life-saving surgery and is awaiting to fly back to the UK for further treatment.

She has a badly injured leg, according to her father

Osborn-Smith was airlifted 240 miles from Victoria Falls to the capital Lusaka where surgeons performed a life-saving operation and battled to save her leg.

Amelie, who is backpacking after finishing her A-levels at the £22,000-a-year St Swithun’s School, an all-girls boarding school in Winchester, was only saved by a quick-thinking male friend who punched the animal on the nose until it let go. 

She was airlifted to hospital in the capital Lusaka for life-saving surgery – and to try to save her shredded leg.  

Mr Osborn-Smith said: ‘She’s a very sensible girl, but on this occasion, she was being guided by the rafting company and it was on their advice.

‘She wasn’t actually swimming but just sitting on the boat and the crocodile saw her leg dangling in the water and thought ‘there’s lunch’.

‘She’s in a pretty bad state at the moment in Zambia and we’re doing our best to try and get her back to have some proper definitive care here, but obviously, with a crocodile bite there’s a huge risk of infection and she’s got a very severely damaged leg. It’s quite a distressing situation.

‘She’s been stabilised as best they can but it’s still pretty touch and go and we’re trying to arrange appropriate consultants here lined up.

‘The other issue is that Zambia is now on the Covid red list, so there are various hoops which need to step through quite carefully. ‘ 

A friend of Amelie’s said: ‘As soon as it happened the male friend dived under the water and started punching the crocodile furiously.

‘Then others jumped in to help. It was chaos. There was blood and people thrashing everywhere. She is lucky to be alive.’ 

The guides and fellow rafters also leapt into the river in a bid to save her.

‘Eventually, the croc gave up and they pulled her back into the boat,’ said the friend.

‘She was in quite a bad way. They patched her up as best they could and arranged an emergency med-evac.’ 

Amelie, whose mother Veronika Osborn-Smith is a German Baroness, 52, was white water rafting with Bundu Rafting based in Livingstone, Zambia. 

A spokesman for the firm confirmed that Amelie was on a trip with them, but declined to give further details. 

 On its website, the company, based in Livingstone, said ‘safety always comes first on the ‘adrenaline-filled and safe adventure activities’. The company has been operating in the Victoria Falls region since 1996. 

The rapids below Victoria Falls are considered to be the best white water rafting experience in the world with turbulent challenges interspersed with tranquil pools. 

This stretch of the Zambezi River just below the falls is also considered the safest to enjoy as crocodiles prefer the calmer, flatter sections downstream.

Amelie is recovering in hospital in the Zambian capital, 240 miles from where the attack took place. It is not clear exactly when she was attacked.

Mr Osborn-Smith said she was on a gap year after she studied and explained the family’s close link to Africa: ‘My daughter was on a gap year to Zambia and it’s a country we are fairly familiar with – her grandmother has a farm on the Zambezi river, so we have spent a bit of time there.’  

While attacks at the falls are rare, they are not unprecedented. 

In 2018, a Zimbabwean woman canoeing above the falls with her British fiancé had her arm bitten off by a 16ft crocodile which attacked their boat.

Zanele Ndlovu, a former national tennis player, had been enjoying a day out with Briton Jamie Fox when the reptile attacked and punctured their raft in April.

Forced into the water, Ms Ndlovu had her left hand bitten and right arm torn off above the elbow in a horrifying attack just days before their wedding.

She was rushed to hospital where medics managed to stitch up the wound and save her life, before getting married in the hospital chapel the following month.+7

The crocodile (file image) snapped its jaws around Amelie’s leg as it dangled over the boat and dragged her into the water and put her in a ‘death roll’ before a male friend punched the reptile

Zanele told The Chronicle newspaper in Zimbabwe at the time: “The waters were very calm and we had guides and there were about seven boats in the water when the crocodile just jumped out.

“It jumped out of the water and bit a chunk of my right arm together with the side of the canoe which started deflating and it all just happened so fast.

“The crocodile bit me again and pulled me into the water. My husband was thrown out the opposite side so the boat was between the two of us.

“Jamie swam over to where I was struggling with the crocodile that was trying to pull me to the bottom of the river and grabbed my waist and with the other hand he rained blows down on the crocodile.

“It all happened so fast we have conflicting accounts of events. The guides saw us battling the crocodile and joined in and the crocodile finally let go.

“The pain was excruciating but Jamie was by my side and I summoned the strength to fight through it and although he was in shock he calmed me down.”

Some residents gathered at the Chiraa cemetery, Thursday, September 16, to have a glimpse of what they described as a strange crocodile which was crawling on tombs.

It is said that the graves were those of a renowned rich man and his two young daughters.

In an interview with Adom News, some residents gave spiritual connotations; they attributed it to the gods being angry with the community.

They expressed worry about the situation, saying they are scared to go out of their homes for fear that they could be attacked.

“This is the first time we are seeing strange things like this and we believe the crocodile might be coming from a nearby river in the community.

“Those who are not afraid have been able to get closer while others threatened to kill it but they are afraid the crocodile was sent by a ritualist,” a resident explained.

Meanwhile, the Chiraa Traditional Council, led by Chiraahene Barimah Minta Afari, has poured libation to appeal to the ancestors to forgive the community if they have not been of their best behaviour.

After the libation and other rituals, the crocodile went back into the bush.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office told Sky News: “We are supporting the family of two British women who are in hospital in Mexico, and are in contact with the local authorities.”

Twins Melissa and Georgia Laurie, 28, were swimming in Manialtepec Lagoon, near Puerto Escondido about 450 miles (724km) southeast of Mexico City.

It is reported that Melissa was dragged under the water by the animal and her sister found her face-down on the surface several minutes later.

The pair’s father Sean Laurie said Georgia tried to bring Melissa back to their boat but the crocodile attacked again.

Mr Laurie told the Daily Mail: “Georgia had to fight it off. She kept punching it in the head.”

Their mother Sue Laurie said both sisters were rushed to hospital after sustaining bite injuries, with Melissa placed into a medically-induced coma.

Mrs Laurie said: “Melissa is alive, but we don’t know if her injuries are life-threatening or not.

“She has water on her lungs and she has been coughing up blood. So we don’t know if she has a punctured lung or not.”

The sisters, who have been backpacking around the world, were visiting the tourist site with a tour company and had reportedly been told it was safe to go in the water.

The woman who is yet to be identified was part of a group who visited the area as part of celebrations for the festive season.

They took turns to pose for the camera with the crocodile who had been called out of the river by the tour guard.

Unfortunately, just when the young woman who wore an orange caftan took her turn, the reptile jumped up and attacked, causing panic among the visitors.

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Docho Eshete was conducting the ceremony for about 80 people on Sunday morning at Lake Abaya in Arba Minch town’s Merkeb Tabya district.

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Residents and police told BBC Amharic that a crocodile leapt from the water during the baptism and attacked him.

Pastor Docho died after being bitten on his legs, back and hands.

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“He baptised the first person and he passed on to another one. All of a sudden, a crocodile jumped out of the lake and grabbed the pastor,” local resident Ketema Kairo told the BBC.

Despite huge efforts, fishermen and residents could not save pastor Docho, policeman Eiwnetu Kanko said.

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They used fishing nets to prevent the crocodile from taking the pastor’s body into the lake.

The crocodile escaped.

He escaped by a whisker from being devoured by a hungry crocodile in the Tano river.

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Narrating his ordeal, Evans who is a security man at Techiman-based radio station, Winners FM was crossing the river in a town called Saabozongo to work when he suddenly felt a sharp piercing pain on his left leg.

When he noticed it was the the grip of a crocodile, it snatched him into the water.

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Evans Gyamfi said the crocodile dragged him into the water where a desperate struggle for survival began.

However, after several minutes of struggle, he managed to escape but sustained a deep cut in his left leg.

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He was rushed to the Holy Family Hospital in Techiman and now responding to treatment.

Scott Van Zyl was killed last week on the banks of the Limpopo river, said Sakkie Louwrens, director of a South-African crime-fighting NGO.

He said Mr Van Zyl disappeared during a hunting safari last week.

His death is the latest in a series of fatal crocodile attacks in Zimbabwe.

Mr Louwrens told the BBC that Mr Van Zyl had gone on a hunting trip on the Zimbabwe-South Africa border with a local tracker and a pack of dogs.

He said the pair left their vehicle and went in different directions in search of crocodiles.

A search and rescue operation was launched after Mr Van Zyl’s dogs returned to their camp without him.

The hunter’s footprints were traced to river bank alongside his discarded rucksack. He was married, had two children and took foreign clients on hunting trips.

Mr Louwrens said staff from the Heritage Protection Group – an organisation which he heads and helps police fight crime in South Africa – informally helped the Zimbabwean authorities conduct the search.

“Permission was given for three Nile crocodiles in the area to be shot, and one of them contained Mr Van Zyl’s remains,” he said. “Subsequent DNA tests have proved the remains to be those of Mr Van Zyl.”

At least four fatal attacks by crocodiles have been reported in Zimbabwe this year.

One conservation group meanwhile has condemned the circumstances of his “senseless” death.

“[He] shouldn’t have been hunting in the first place. Animals in the wild… are wild! They are living, thinking beings with instincts for survival,” a statement by One Green Planet said.