DARWIN, Australia, April 10 (UPI) -- A young man who tried to swim across a northern Australian river after an evening of drinking was killed by a saltwater crocodile early Friday, witnesses said.
Keith Parry, who would have turned 21 Sunday, and friends had been partying Thursday evening at a campsite across the Daly River from Nauiyu, 120 miles south of Darwin, The Australian reported. The group apparently went to the campsite because alcohol is illegal in Nauiyu, an Aboriginal community.
Around 1:30 a.m. Friday, Parry and a friend jumped into the river and began swimming toward the opposite shore. A 12-foot crocodile was known to lurk in that area, where the river is more than 200 feet wide.
One of Parry's sisters was watching.
"They got to the middle and the crocodile came," she told The Australian. "I only saw its big head and then heard a splash."
Police in small boats searched the river for the crocodile Friday but hadn't found it.
Parry and other friends had driven about 50 miles from Woodycupaldiya for the party. A birthday party planed for the Daly River pub has been canceled.
The young man's family told The Australian wants the crocodile shot if it is identified.
