A swimmer died after being bitten by a shark at a beach in suburban Sydney, Australian authorities said, marking the first fatal shark attack in the city in nearly 60 years.
An eyewitness told local television that he had been fishing off nearby rocks when he saw a man wearing a wetsuit and swimming across the bay get dragged underwater by a large shark in an attack that lasted several seconds.
“Some guy was swimming and a shark came and attacked him vertically,” witness Kris Linto, told Nine.
“We heard a yell and turned around — it looked like a car had landed in the water, a big splash, then the shark was chomping at the body and there was blood everywhere.”
Another witness estimated the shark was 4.5 metres in size.
“When he went down, there were so many splashes,” the witness, who had been fishing on rocks nearby, told ABC.
It was the first fatal shark attack in Sydney since 1963, data shows.
Lifeguards will patrol the beaches looking for further shark sightings.
Emergency services arrived in the area of Buchan Point, Malabar, around 4:35pm local time on Wednesday, following a report of a shark attacking a swimmer in the water, according to New South Wales police. Officers found human remains in the water.
“Officers attached to Eastern Beaches Police Area Command, with assistance from the Marine Area Command and Surf Life Saving NSW, attended and located human remains in the water,” it said.
An NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said paramedics were called to Little Bay. “Unfortunately, this patient had suffered catastrophic injuries and there was nothing paramedics could do.”
