Surfer dies in shark attack

A 19-year-old local surfer on the eastern coast Saturday became Australia's second victim of a fatal shark attack this month.

 

Zac Young died while surfing with three friends 100 metres off Campbells Beach near the tourist town of Coffs Harbour, 533 kilometres north of Sydney.

 

"His mates struggled with the shark for a short time. Then the shark has let go and friends then courageously managed to get him to shore," Police Inspector Joanna Reid was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.

 

There were reports that Young lost both his legs.

 

"He suffered a traumatic cardiac arrest as a result of his injuries," a spokeswoman for the Ambulance Service told national news agency AAP. "Swimmers tried to revive him and then paramedics arrived."

 

It was the first fatal shark attack on the eastern coast since 2008, and followed the death two weeks ago of 35-year-old surfer Chris Boyd off the western coast.

 

Boyd's arm was torn off in the November 23 incident by what was believed to be a great white shark at Gracetown, 270 kilometres south of Perth.

 

That attack came just weeks after an abalone diver needed 10 hours of surgery from a great white shark attack near the Western Australian state town of Esperance.

 

Greg Hackfath, chief lifeguard for Coffs Harbour City Council, told The Australian that all beaches within 10 kilometres of Campbells Beach would be closed for 24 hours.

 

Hackfath said there had only ever been two reported shark attacks in the Coffs Harbour area.

 

"We see sharks but the common saying is that you don't worry about them because they're well fed," he said. "You might see one every now and then but they'd be chasing a school of fish.

 

"In 20 years I could count on one hand how many incidents we've had with sharks," he said.

 

-Sapa-dpa