Crocodile attack: MP blames 'human stupidity' as woman is taken during late night beach swim

'You can't legislate against human stupidity, If you go in swimming at 10 o'clock at night, you're going to get consumed,' says Warren Enstch, Queensland representative

(File photo) The missing woman's friend had tried to drag her to safety (Facebook/Cindy Waldron)

A woman has gone missing after being attacked by a crocodile during a late night swim with a friend just off an Australian beach.

Cindy Waldron, 46, from from Lithgow in New South Wales was swimming in waist-deep water around 10:30pm when she was attacked when she was attacked.

The incident occured just off Thornton Beach in Daintree National Park in Queensland - where there are many crocodile tours in operation.

Police say the missing woman's friend, aged 47, tried to grab her and drag her to safety but wasn't able to do so.

Not being locals, the women might not have known the beach was a crocodile habitat, police have suggested.

Local Queensland representative, Warren Entsch, said the pair must have seen the many crocodile warning signs in the region.

He added: "You can't legislate against human stupidity, If you go in swimming at 10 o'clock at night, you're going to get consumed."

A rescue helicopter using thermal imaging equipment failed to find any trace of Ms Waldron on the night of her disappearance.

The search has since been resumed with a helicopter, boat and land-based teams.

The survivor, from Cairns, 58 miles south of Thornton Beach, was taken to a hospital suffering from shock and a graze to her arm inflicted as the crocodile brushed against her.

Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman Neil Noble said: "The report that we have from the surviving woman is that they felt a nudge and her partner started to scream and then was dragged into the water."

The attack occurred near where a five-year-old boy was taken and killed by a 14ft crocodile from a swamp in 2009 and a 43-year-old woman was killed by a 16ft crocodile while swimming in a creek in 1985.

Darwin-based expert Grahame Webb said while most crocodiles were found in rivers, swamps and other protected waterways - open beaches in northern Australia were not safe.

He said: "There've been quite a lot of attacks off beaches and off coral reefs where people are snorkelling."

Crocodile numbers have boomed across Australia's northern tropics since they became a protected species in 1971, and they pose an increasing threat to humans.