A swimmer was eaten alive in front of horrified onlookers during a shark attack at a beach in Western Australia on Friday. Police said the swimmer died following the late-morning attack off Sorrento Beach, in the northern suburbs of Perth.
Search and closure
Air and sea search teams deployed helicopters and boats to sweep the surrounding waters in the aftermath. Authorities have yet to confirm whether any human remains were recovered. In the wake of the tragic incident, officials closed the beach to the public.
While police have not formally identified the victim, eyewitnesses indicated he was a man in his 60s.
Witness accounts
Witness Darrel Haythornthwaite told Nine Network television that the victim had been swimming alongside a friend, who was left deeply traumatised by the ordeal.
"I was just shocked. I mean, I feel for his mate. He's apologised and said 'I didn't save my mate,'" Haythornthwaite told Nine. "I said, 'You couldn't have done anything'."
Bystanders were left shaken after seeing a vast quantity of blood spreading through the water.
"My friend said, 'Jac, I think there's been a shark attack,' and I looked out to the ocean, and I could see a pool of blood," beach walker Jacqui Rapaic told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Regular swimmer Ingrid Mitchell, who visits the beach daily, told Nine: "How do you just watch someone be mauled to pieces in front of you, basically? It's pretty hard."
Local reaction
Local Ryan Rowe told The West Australian newspaper that upon arriving at the beach that morning, another witness informed him that "someone had been bitten by a shark."
He said: "I couldn't believe there was that much blood (that had) come out of a human body."
Earlier this year, a 12-year-old boy died in hospital several days after being attacked by a bull shark in Sydney Harbour in January. In June, a woman was attacked by a shark at one of Sydney's most beloved beaches. The schoolteacher recalled throwing a "left hook" at the shark before it dragged her beneath the surface. Just this week, a surfer sustained serious leg injuries following an attack near Geraldton, approximately 250 miles north of Perth.
