SAO PAULO - AN ALLIGATOR that killed an 11-year-old girl bathing in a creek in northern Brazil was shot dead by searchers with the victim still in its jaws, reports said on Monday.

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.

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

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