Local media reported that around noon on Tuesday, frightened residents of Samut Prakan, located roughly 25km (16 miles) south of Bangkok, witnessed the reptile devouring the remains of a baby and promptly contacted police.
Kittisak Phongphipat, one of the first to witness the incident, told the Thai Examiner news website that he initially mistook the baby for something else.
“I thought it was a fish washed up from the rain,” he said.
“Then I looked closer. It was a baby. I felt sick to my stomach because the baby had been torn to pieces by the animal.”
When police and rescue volunteer group Nakon45 arrived, they found the 2-metre (6.5-foot) reptile still gripping the lifeless body in its jaws. By then, the infant’s head had already been detached from its body and was lying on the road.
