- A surfer in
Australia died on Sunday after a three-meter great white shark attacked him. - An unnamed 60-year-old man was pulled from the water off Salt Beach, New South Wales, at 10 a.m. local time, state police said.
- Fellow surfers fought off the shark and pulled the man to shore. Emergency services were called but the man was declared dead at 10:40 a.m.
- Shark attacks are rare, and deaths are even more so. Around the world, only two people died in 2019.
A man in Australia has died after a three-meter great white shark attacked him, after fellow surfers fought off the ocean predator.
Sharks patrol waters all along Australia's coasts but unprovoked attacks are seldom — there were 11 in 2019 — and deaths are extremely rare, with only two people in the world dying last year.
On Sunday, a 60-year-old man who is yet to be named was pulled from the water off Salt Beach in South Kingscliff at 10 a.m. local time, according to New South Wales Police.
A group of surfers in the area saw the man under attack, police said, and came to his assistance, eventually fighting off the great white and pulling the man back to shore.
Emergency services were called to the beach at 10.20 a.m., according to local attack rescue group Surf Live Saving. The man received first aid for the injuries to his left leg, but he was declared dead at 10:40 a.m.
He is the third person to die from a
The species of shark was identified by shark biologists at the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) who studied the bite to the man's leg, and aerial images of a shark seen in the area.
Jetskis, drones, and helicopter were deployed to locate the shark after the attack, the group said, but it evaded capture.
A long section of nearby beach, including Salt Beach, has been closed for the next 24 hours.