A swimmer was killed by a shark off the coast of Perth in Western Australia on Friday, according to state police. Emergency services were called to Sorrento Beach, north of the city, to search for the man after reports of an attack.
Witnesses told Australian media they saw the swimmer being attacked and described blood pooling in the water. Police said a male swimmer had been bitten while swimming along the coast and died as a result of the attack.
Authorities have not released the victim’s identity. It was also unclear from the report whether any remains had been recovered.
The death would make this Australia’s fifth confirmed fatal shark attack of the year, according to the supplied report. Three spearfishing divers were killed in separate incidents in May and June, while a 12-year-old boy died in hospital in January after being mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor.
The latest incident followed a separate attack on Monday in which a surfer suffered severe leg injuries near Geraldton, about 400 kilometers north of Perth. The Australian Shark Incident Database is cited as recording an average of two to three fatal shark attacks annually over the past 25 years.