Fears for Australia missing girl after crocodile attack

Saltwater crocodiles are protected in Australia

Australian police looking for a missing child say they have found what appear to be human remains inside a crocodile.

The seven-year-old girl was swimming with her family in a remote waterhole in the Northern Territory on Friday, when a saltwater crocodile attacked and dragged her under.

A day later rangers shot dead a three-metre-long reptile in the waterhole - or billabong.

Initial tests suggest its stomach contained human remains.

"Further forensic testing will be conducted in Darwin," a police spokesman told AFP news agency.

The incident occurred at the Gumarrirnbang outstation, about 500km (300 miles) east of Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory.

The girl was last seen being dragged under the water by the crocodile, which had also attacked a man who was with her in the billabong.

The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Sydney says it is extremely rare for people to be attacked by saltwater crocodiles - a protected species in Australia.

In the latest case, police say there had been no previous sightings of crocodiles in the area, and the community believed the billabong was safe.