MANILA - A 10-year-old girl has been decapitated by a crocodile in a Philippine lake after the creature knocked over her canoe, police say.

The girl and a classmate were on their way on Saturday to their floating school on Agusan del Sur province's Mihaba Lake when the seven-metre long crocodile bumped the boat, causing it to capsize, said Bunawan town police officer Melchor Danuco on Wednesday.

Rescuers found the girl's headless body floating on the lake on Tuesday, he said.