NSW man’s children, wife ‘very traumatised’ after watching him get dragged underwater by croc near Cooktown

A NSW man’s wife and children are “traumatised” after seeing him being taken by a “large” crocodile in far north Queensland.

The 40-year-old man was fishing on a riverbank on the Annan River, near Annan River Bridge, in Cooktown when he was taken about 2.10pm on Saturday.

“He was on the river bank and he was with family,” Senior Sergeant Greg Finucane said on Sunday.

“A crocodile was seen in the vicinity.

“It was a large crocodile, according to witnesses.

“Condolences go to the family, who are obviously very traumatised at the moment.”

The man did not resurface and neither he nor the crocodile have been seen since, Finucane said.

The search was set to continue into Sunday night and Monday morning.

“It’s basically a search and rescue mission. We’ve been patrolling the river bank. It is quite a large area, approximately 5km of waterway,” Finucane said.”

“It is tidal. It’s affected by currents, also weather and the natural movement of crocodiles has to be taken into account.

“We’ll continue search and rescue procedures, utilising drones and water craft and specialist units from the far north region.”

The family was travelling through Cooktown in a caravan, according to the senior sergeant.

He would not say the ages of the man’s children, nor where the family is from in NSW.

He said he “can’t confirm” reports that members of the public had been feeding crocodiles in the area the man was taken, increasing the animals’ risk to humans.

Authorities intent to capture the croc that took the man.

“Wildlife officers from Cairns travelled to Cooktown last night and conducted a preliminary site inspection of a section of the Annan River,” a Queensland environment department spokesperson said.

“So far, we have not located a crocodile that is believed to be involved in the incident.

“Intensive surveys of the river will be conducted today, including land-based and drone surveys. Additional wildlife officers are on standby to travel to Cooktown should they be required.

“While the circumstances of this matter are yet to be confirmed, we remind everyone that Cooktown is known ‘Croc Country’ and urge everyone to be safe by practising ‘CrocWise’ behaviour.”