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An Australian surfer died Saturday after being bitten by a “large shark” at Long Reef Beach in Sydney, police said.
New South Wales Police Superintendent John Duncan identified the victim as a 57-year-old father and “experienced surfer” who lost several limbs, according to Sky News.
“There was a guy screaming, ‘I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me,’ and I saw the dorsal fin of the shark come up, and it was huge,” a witness at the scene told Sky News Australia.
Police said they were called to the beach around 10 a.m. local time on Saturday to respond to reports of a man who “had suffered critical injuries.”
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“He was retrieved from the surf and brought to the shore; however, [he] died at the scene,” the New South Wales Police Force said in a statement.
“Officers attached to Northern Beaches Police Area Command have closed the beach and will liaise with experts… to determine the species of shark involved,” police added. “Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for expert examination.”
The last time a person was killed by a shark in Sydney was in February 2022, which was the city’s first fatal shark attack dating back to 1963, according to Sky News.
Duncan told reporters Saturday that the incident was a “terrible tragedy.”
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“The gentleman had gone out about 9:30 this morning with some of his friends, about five or six of his mates,” he was quoted by Sky News as saying. “He’s an experienced surfer that we understand.”
“Unfortunately, it would appear that a large, what we believe to be a shark, has attacked him. And as a result of that, he lost a number of limbs,” Duncan reportedly added. “His colleagues managed to make it back to the beach safely, and a short time later, his body was found floating in the surf, and a couple of other people went out and recovered it.”
Duncan said the victim leaves behind a wife and young daughter, Sky News reported.
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