A soccer game among friends in Indonesia turned fatal when a crocodile attacked and killed a boy who had waded into a river to fetch their ball.
The victim, 13-year-old Muhammad Abidzhar, known as Habi to his friends, entered the crocodile-infested waters near the Kutai Lama harbor pier in Anggana District, Kutai Kartanegara Regency, around 5:30 p.m. local time on March 29, 2026. The group had been swimming and playing when their ball landed in the waterway, and Abidzhar volunteered to retrieve it.
Before disappearing beneath the murky water, Abidzhar let out a single scream as a predator lurking below pulled him under. His horrified friends ran to their village to notify authorities.
Meiry Sulindra, head of the Anggana Fire and Rescue Post, confirmed his team received the report just before maghrib prayers. “The incident happened around 5:30 p.m.,” Sulindra told reporters. Rescue personnel from the Anggana Fire and Rescue unit immediately deployed rubber boats to search the area surrounding the harbor pier.
Rescue operations continued through the night and into the next day, complicated by strong currents and tidal fluctuations. During the search, rescuers observed multiple crocodiles surfacing, underscoring the hazardous nature of these waters.
Abidzhar’s body was discovered floating approximately 1.6 kilometers downstream from the attack site. Rescue workers in the center of the river evacuated his remains and transported them directly to his family home. An examination revealed multiple injuries consistent with a crocodile attack, including wounds to the boy’s jaw and back.
Indonesia’s Crocodile Crisis
Indonesia leads the world in crocodile attacks by a staggering margin. According to the CrocAttack database, between 2015 and 2024, 1,167 people in Indonesia were attacked by crocodiles, resulting in 556 fatalities, far more than any other country. During that period, East Kalimantan alone recorded 102 attacks with 54 deaths, making it one of the most dangerous provinces in the nation.
The archipelago is home to four recognized crocodilian species, with the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) responsible for the vast majority of attacks on humans. These apex predators can exceed six meters in length and are extremely territorial, thriving in the region’s rivers, mangrove forests, and coastal waters.
Crocodile populations in Indonesia have rebounded since large-scale hunting was banned in the late 1990s, but the lack of warning systems and protective measures poses a significant challenge in minimizing conflicts. The frequency of such incidents has prompted concern among local authorities and wildlife experts.
Factors Driving Attacks
Conservationists point to several factors driving crocodiles closer to human settlements. Overfishing has depleted the predators’ natural food sources, forcing them to hunt in areas they previously avoided. Development of coastal areas into agricultural land has caused habitat loss, further reducing their territory. Palm oil plantation canals and other waterway modifications have created new crocodile habitats in populated areas.
Widespread tin mining operations—particularly in provinces like Bangka-Belitung—have also pushed villagers to encroach on crocodile habitats, creating dangerous proximity between people and the apex predators. Many residents in developing areas still rely on rivers for bathing, fishing, and daily activities, increasing their vulnerability to attacks.
Attacks are especially concentrated in East Kalimantan on Borneo and Bangka-Belitung off Sumatra. The often-illegal tin mining in Bangka-Belitung has created numerous artificial bodies of water that serve as ideal habitat for crocodiles seeking new hunting grounds.
The waterways around Kutai Kartanegara Regency, where Abidzhar died, serve as critical habitat for these predators while simultaneously functioning as a lifeline for local communities who depend on them for transportation, fishing, and daily activities. This overlap creates inevitable conflict between humans and one of nature’s most formidable predators.
Recent Fatal Attacks
This tragedy marks the latest in a series of fatal crocodile attacks across Indonesia in recent months. In March 2025, 10-year-old Fikri Qurniawansyah was mauled to death while riding a makeshift canoe with friends in Riau province. The boy placed his hand in the water before a crocodile clamped down on his arm and dragged him beneath the surface.
Search teams located and killed a crocodile believed responsible for that attack, but when they cut open its stomach, they found it empty. A local farmer eventually discovered Fikri’s body floating face-down in the river. A medical examination revealed multiple bruises consistent with a “death roll”—the violent spinning technique crocodiles use to subdue prey.
Local officials have urged residents to exercise extreme caution near waterways, particularly during dawn and dusk when crocodiles are most active. Authorities have asked the public to report any crocodile sightings immediately so preventive action can be taken.
Abidzhar’s death underscores the tragic cost of Indonesia’s ongoing human-wildlife conflict and the urgent need for coordinated efforts to protect both human communities and the crocodile populations that share their environment.