A ۶۳-year-old man has died after being bitten by a shark off Sorrento beach in Perth’s north.
Emergency services were called to the popular beach at about ۱۰.۳۰am on Friday after reports of a shark-related incident.
Western Australia police said a man had been bitten by a shark while swimming along the coast. He died as a result of his injuries, police said.
Emergency services, including water and air personnel, conducted an extensive search of the area. The swimmer’s body had not been found.
The Alkimos Surf Life Saving Club said Sorrento beach would remain closed until noon on Saturday. Locals were urged to stay out of the water until the beach was declared safe for swimming.
The City of Wanneroo closed all other beaches along its coastline until noon on Saturday.
WA police continued searching the shoreline on Saturday morning but said the ۶۳-year-old still had not been located.
The local state MP, Liam Staltari, extended his condolences to the man’s family, friends and loved ones.
“Like all locals and people from across WA, I’m deeply saddened by the tragic death of a man following today’s shark attack at Sorrento beach,” he said.
“Our entire community is thinking of you at this incredibly difficult time.”
A witness, Darrel Haythornthwaite, told ۷News that he could not believe the incident had occurred, “especially in a place like this”. He said the man’s friend, who was swimming with him, made it back to shore but was inconsolable.
“He felt bad because he didn’t go back to save his mate and I said, ‘Nah you couldn’t have done that’,” he told the outlet. “There’s nothing that anyone could have done.”
Another witness, Ingrid Mitchell, told ۹News she swam at the beach every day and did not expect sharks to attack outside dawn and dusk.
“There was other swimmers in there … just near the seaweed, and there was one poor girl there who was sun-baking, and she saw the whole lot as well,” she said.
A third witness, Jacqui Rapaic, told the ABC she was walking along the beach with a friend when the incident occurred.
“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,” she said.
“I hugged on to my friend … [we] felt rather traumatised at that point. It happened so quickly.”
The fatality followed a shark attack on Monday at the remote Glenfield beach, north of Geraldton on WA’s mid-west coast, which left a surfer with serious injuries.
He was taken to the nearby Geraldton health campus and was in a stable condition.
– with AAP
