Large alligator kills girl in Brazil

An alligator that killed an 11-year-old girl bathing in a creek in northern Brazil has been shot dead by searchers with the victim still in its jaws, reports say.

The five-metre long animal grabbed the girl, identified as Gigliane do Nascimento Bira, when she was swimming with several people in the waterway near the town of Guajara Mirim on Sunday, during hot summer weather, the local newspaper Correio Popular de Rondonia said on Monday.

The girl's 16-year-old brother watched helplessly as she was dragged underwater by the 350kg reptile.

Rescuers spotted and shot the alligator after a desperate seven-hour search with the lifeless body of the girl still in its mouth.