A nine-year-old boy was attacked and eaten by a swarm of crocodiles in an alligator pool at a seashore resort in Beihai City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to local police.

The tragedy occurred at about 6 PM on Friday, when a pupil surnamed Liu from Xiantian Primary School climbed over the fence of a crocodile pool which has been temporarily closed.

"He was attacked by a crocodile and shouted for help. I tried to pull him back, but more crocodiles swarmed over and started to bite him," said a student witness surnamed Pang.

Local police confirmed the death but declined to give more details.

The pool, which had been used to stage crocodile shows, is located in a recreational park in a holiday resort called Beihai Yintan, or Silver Beach. It has been sealed off for auction.

In August 2005, crocodiles in this park sneaked out through a water pipe and crawled to the beach, freaking out tourists.

Local residents said the owner of the park had hired a keeper for the crocodiles. It is not known why the man was not present when the accident happened.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2007)