A Cambodian man was viciously killed Friday after stumbling into an enclosure on his family’s reptile farm that housed a large number of crocodiles, authorities say.

Approximately 40 crocodiles reportedly tore 72-year-old Luan Nam to pieces after he attempted to move one of the creatures out of a cage where it had lain eggs. Nam had been attempting to goad the reptile out of the cage with a stick when the crocodile bit down on it and pulled the elderly man into the enclosure, according to CBS News.

Roughly 40 reptiles beset Nam and began “tearing his body to pieces,” the outlet reported.

A man was killed by 40 crocodiles that “pounced” on him after he fell into an enclosure in Cambodia.
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— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 26, 2023

“While he was chasing a crocodile out of an egg-laying cage, the crocodile attacked the stick, causing him to fall into the enclosure,” Siem Reap commune police chief Mey Savry told the news outlet AFP, according to CBS. “Then other crocodiles pounced, attacking him until he was dead.”

Savry said one of Nam’s arms had been completely severed by the animals and swallowed, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Shocking Footage Captures Crocodile Dragging Dead Man’s Maimed Body Through Lagoon)

Nam’s farm is one of many such crocodile habitats in Siem Reap, known as the gateway city to the historical ruined temple complex of Angkor Wat, according to CBS. Farmers keep the crocodiles for their eggs, skins and meat as well as for trade.

Nam, who reportedly served as president of the local crocodile farmers’ association, had been urged by his family to stop raising the animals prior to his gruesome death, commune chief May Sameth told AFP, according to CBS.