Search continues for missing girl, 12, after suspected crocodile attack

The search for a young girl who went missing in a suspected crocodile attack is now a recovery mission.

The girl was last seen swimming with family members at Mango Creek near the remote Aboriginal community of Nganmarriyanga - also known as Palumpa - 350km south-west of Darwin on Tuesday.

She has been missing for more than 36 hours.

On Thursday, police said the girl’s shirt had been found upstream of where she disappeared, the ABC reported.

Her disappearance was initially reported by family members as a crocodile attack.

Police Minister Brent Potter told NT news the Search and Rescue team had been authorised to remove the crocodile in order to allow for the search to safely continue.

“It’s probably safe to say we’re in the recovery stage,” he said.

The waterways in the region are home to both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles.

The Saltwater Crocodile is highly dangerous to humans and can grow up to six metres in length.

Freshwater crocodiles are known have been known to attack people in self-defence.