Alligator drags toddler into Disney lagoon

By Natalie Huet with AP and Reuters

Published on 15/06/2016 - 08:33

A frantic search for the two-year-old boy is underway in Orlando, Florida.

Still reeling from America’s worst mass shooting, authorities in Orlando, Florida were desperately searching on Wednesday (June 15) for a toddler snatched by an alligator at Disney World.

The incident happened at 9:20 pm local time on Tuesday at the Seven Seas Lagoon, near Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.

The two year-old boy was wading in shallow waters when he was dragged into the lagoon by the reptile, believed to be between one and two metres long.

His parents and two siblings, from Nebraska, witnessed the attack from the shore and scrambled to save him.

“The father entered the water and tried to grab the child, was not successful in doing so. At some point, I am told, that the mother may have also entered the water,” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings told reporters.

There were no warnings of alligators in the area, only signs against swimming in the lagoon.

Walt Disney issued a statement saying it was “devastated” by the accident.

The tragedy comes just two days after a gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub nearby.