Kiwi highly distressed after crocodile kills dive friend

A New Zealander tried in vain to save a friend from being mauled by a crocodile in waters off Australia's Northern Territory.

The 41-year-old Kiwi, who has not been named, was reported to be highly distressed after his friend, 55-year-old Russell Butel of Darwin, was killed by the 5m crocodile off Cobourg Peninsula, 150km northeast of Darwin, on Thursday.

The pair were dive fishing in 6m-deep water when the attack happened, Northern Territory police said. Mr Butel was an experienced commercial diver and fisherman who had led charters in the area.

"The [New Zealand] chap sighted a crocodile, or what he thought was a crocodile tail," said Acting Superintendent Dean McMaster.

"He signalled his mate on the communication line they had set up, and pulled in the other chap's dive line ... and he wasn't on the end of it.

"He has obviously feared the worst, set up a marker buoy and set off an emergency beacon and contacted the police and we initiated a search."

The New Zealander, said to be living in Darwin, did not see the attack on Mr Butel.

"His first instinct would have been to get out of the bloody water, which would have been my first instinct," Mr McMaster said.

"They had a small boat set up with their air compressor in it, and they would have been using that to provide their air, and he's got in that and I believe had a satellite phone and contacted police by that means."

Mr Butel's body was found about four hours later. His injuries were consistent with being attacked by a crocodile. The body was later flown to Darwin for an autopsy.

Mr McMaster said the New Zealander was back out on the water yesterday to try to retrieve his vessel.

Police had not been able to get a full statement from him and were not releasing any of his details.

The attack on Mr Butel came just five days after British snorkeller Russell Harris, 37, was killed by a 4m saltwater crocodile while swimming at Groote Eylandt, east of Darwin.