Horror moment crocodile seen clutching dead swimmer’s body in its jaws near the shore in front of screaming onlookers

THIS is the horrifying moment a huge crocodile parades around a dead body in its jaws after killing a swimmer.

The victim was 51-year-old Sadarwinata, who was snapped up by the beast near Talise Beach in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on March 27.

In the eerie clip, the enormous croc can be seen gliding through the turquoise water after making its kill.

Its jaws are clamped around the chest of Sadarwinata's lifeless body, which it pushes ahead of it.

The doomed swimmer, still fully dressed, is bobbing face-down in the sea.

A separate clip shows a team of rescuers lifting the body, now in an orange bag, from a boat onto the shore.

They then march along the beach with it on a stretcher, surrounded by onlookers and armed police.

It takes a dozen men to haul it over the large rocks and boulders leading to the beach.

The tragedy struck when Sadarwinata was paddling in the shallow water near the shore.

Locals reported seeing the silhouette of the huge reptile rising through the sea towards him – a said they cried out in warning.

But Sadarwinata couldn't hear the calls, and the croc struck out suddenly, snatching him.

People on the beach could do nothing but watch as the predator thrashed the swimmer around, eventually killing him.

The local rescue team said they were alerted to a fatal attack at 7:15am.

They launched a thermal drone at around 8am to track the body.

It was this aerial drone that captured the unsettling footage.

Deny Abrahams, senior commissioner of the city police, said: “According to eyewitness statements, the victim was swimming too close to the crocodile that was already visible around the location.

“They shouted to warn him, but the victim was in the water and didn't hear.

“The rescue efforts were carried out swiftly by the joint team.

“One of the members of the Central Sulawesi Police Mobile Brigade Corps was even forced to shoot the crocodile to make it release the victim.”

Sadarwinata'sbody was taken to the Bhyangkara Hospital for a post-mortem.

Police said conservationists have since been at the scene to warn visitors about the danger and encourage vigilance in the water.

Indonesia's waters teem with 14 different types of crocodile.

Many of them are the particularly large and violent estuarine variety.

Conservationists think the animals have been driven further inland, closer to villages, due to overfishing reducing their natural food supply.

They are also being squeezed out of some habitats from by the development of coastal areas into farms.