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Two-year-old girl eaten alive by crocodiles after fall at family farm in Cambodia

Girl was alone with mother and newborn baby at family’s crocodile farm

Alessio Perrone
Tuesday 02 July 2019 16:35 BST
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A two-year-old girl was eaten alive by crocodiles after she wandered off from her family in Cambodia, local authorities say.

Rom Roath Neary left the house alone to play around her family’s crocodile farm but fell into a crocodile pit on Sunday in Siem Reap, the capital of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia. She was not seen alive again.

Local police confirmed that she was killed by crocodiles and that her father found only her skull in the enclosure.

She had been left alone with her mother, who had recently given birth to another child and lost track of her while she was caring for the newborn, police said.

The parents had built a fence around the crocodile pit but the gaps in it were small enough for children to go through.

Her father realised she was missing after he returned home later and found her remains in the pit.

“Her father found only her skull in the crocodile enclosure, where she was killed by crocodiles,” confirmed Captain Chamnan, Siem Reap’s deputy police chief.

A harrowing video showing crocodiles fighting over the child’s remains circulated widely on social media.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident.

They also recommended that families take extra care to keep children away from danger at crocodile farms.

A number of families breed crocodiles for their meat and leather in Cambodia, especially in Siem Reap province.

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