Two women have recounted the moment they lost their husbands to crocodiles in the Northern Territory, speaking at an inquest into crocodile attacks.
Lanh Van Tran, 57, and Bill Scott, 62, were both killed by crocs in 2014 while their wives watched on helplessly.
On August 18, 2014 Thi Ban Le was packing up fishing gear near the car when she heard her husband scream in Vietnamese “Oh my God, I’m dead”. Minutes before, he had told her to pack up the fishing gear while he unsnagged a fishing line from the river at low tide.
Le turned around to see a huge croc’s tail above the water, which soon disappeared with her husband’s body.
Le took a knife from the fishing gear and waded in the water, hoping the croc had only taken a limb from her husband and he was nearby, reports NT News.
This was to no avail. Lanh Van Tran died at Adelaide River that day. The couple had been living in Darwin for a year.
On June 7, 2014 Bill Scott was fishing with his wife, Roslyn, at the Bill Dean billabong on the South Alligator River system in the Kakadu National Park.
He was standing at the back of the couple’s boat when a “monster croc” lunged over the motor and pulled Mr Scott into the water, grabbing him by the shoulder.
At the inquest, Roslyn described her husband as an experienced fisherman and territory bushman.
Park and Wildlife rangers told the inquest big crocodile sightings are occurring more often than usual.
The inquest continues.
