Couple spots ‘thrashing’ in surf, tries to save man attacked by shark in Australia

A couple who spotted “thrashing” in the surf Sunday off a popular Australia beach tried to pull a man attacked by a shark to safety, officials say.

But the 55-year-old man, who suffered bites to his hand and upper thigh, died on Cable Beach on the Indian Ocean, Sky News reported.

The man had been body-boarding about 100 feet from the beach near Broome in Western Australia when a shark attacked him about 8:40 a.m., ABC News reported.

“It’s a tragic incident, very unexpected, a person going out to have a bit of fun in the water,” said Gene Pears, a Kimberley District Office Police Inspector, The New York Post reported.

Police closed the beach and shot at the shark, which “lingered close to the beach,” for about 30 minutes following the fatal attack, ABC News reported.

It’s the eighth fatal shark attack in Australia in 2020, marking the most shark-related deaths in the nation since 1934, CNN reported. There were no shark attack deaths there in 2019.

This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 10:35 AM.