A search is on to find a 2-year-old boy who was attacked by an alligator and dragged away at a Disney hotel near Orlando, authorities said.
The incident happened while the family relaxed at a sandy area near the Seven Seas Lagoon on the property.
The child was “wading just in the water along the lake’s edge at the time that the alligator attacked,” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.
After the alligator grabbed the child, the father hopped into the water and tried to wrestle his son back from its mouth, but was unsuccessful, Demings said.
“Based upon my 35 years of law enforcement experience, we know we have some challenges ahead at this time,” he said. “We’re not leaving until we recover the child.”
Demings said there is no record of similar incidents in this particular area.
The family of four — parents and two children — is on vacation from Nebraska, Demings said. They arrived Sunday.
“Everyone here at the Walt Disney Resort is devastated by this tragic accident,” a Disney spokeswoman told reporters.
Demings said no reports of nuisance alligators have come in the region recently. The alligator is between 4 and 7 feet long.
The search
Authorities have searched for the child for about four hours and do not plan to stop until he is found or recovered.
A handful of people witnessed the incident and supplied police with information. CNN staff on the scene spotted at least 10 emergency vehicles, and the beach has been cordoned off.
The Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife is conducting a parallel investigation and is participating in the search. It has deployed an alligator trapper, officer Chad Weber said.
“We’re putting every effort into locating the child and trapping this alligator,” he said. “We’ll be here with them until there’s a resolution.”
A witness told CNN a movie was being screened on the beach that evening.
A helicopter with a search light scoured the lagoon as a handful of Disney employees ushered people away from the sidewalks overlooking the beach.