TUARAN, Dec 4 — A teenager was saved from being eaten by a crocodile after six of his friends "bashed” the reptile, injuring one of its eyes, at Sungai Kampung Mengkabong here yesterday.

Tuaran District Police chief DSP Mohd Hamizi Halim said the victim, Azlan Arif Abdullah, 16, sustained injuries to his body, right leg and abdomen in the 3.30pm incident.

He said the 1.52-metre (five-foot) long crocodile attacked a member of the group of children, aged between nine and 16, when they were looking for clams and river snails while trying to cross the river.

"They quickly attacked the crocodile with whatever they had in their hands until one of them managed to injure the crocodile’s eye, forcing it to release the teenager,” he said when contacted by Bernama today, adding that the victim’s house was near the mangrove river.

He said the victim, who is being treated at the Tuaran Hospital, would be referred to the Kota Belud Hospital or Papar Hospital for further treatment. — Bernama