| Surfer killed in shark attack off Australia’s west coast |
SYDNEY A surfer was bitten in half in a savage shark attack off Australia’s west coast on Saturday, witnesses and officials said, the fifth such fatality in the region in less than a year.
The man was surfing near Wedge Island, north of Perth, on Saturday morning with a friend when he was mauled by the shark, suffering severe and extensive injuries.
A man jet-skiing near the surfers said it was a gruesome scene, with “half a torso” all that remained of the victim.
“There was just blood everywhere and a massive, massive (great) white shark circling the body,” he told ABC television, estimating the fish was four or five metres long.
“I reached to grab the body and the shark came at me on the jet-ski and tried to knock me off. I did another loop and when I came back to the body the shark took it.”
Made infamous by the horror movie Jaws, great whites are among the largest shark species in the world and can grow up to six metres long and weigh up to two tonnes.
Beach patrol officials confirmed that the attack was fatal, and a large-scale air, coast and sea search was underway for the remains of the victim, who was reported to be in his early 20s.
A police spokesman said: “At this stage no remains have been located.”
All beaches in the area were closed until further notice, and fisheries were hunting the shark in order to kill it.
“We’ll go right through to nightfall tonight, we will then resume that on Sunday morning and make some decisions on Sunday,” a fisheries spokesman said.
Agence France-Presse
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