SIDNEY, 04 FEB – A 16-year-old girl died after being mauled by a shark while swimming in a river in Western Australia, according to local authorities. The girl was bitten by an unknown species of shark in the Swan River in the Perth suburb of North Fremantle, according to a state government statement. She was pulled from the water but she was pronounced dead at the scene after all attempts to revive her failed, said Fremantle District Police Inspector Paul Robinson. “It seems that she was with friends on the river – he said in a press conference-. They were on jet skis; it is possible that a pod of dolphins, chased by the shark, had passed by and that the girl dived to swim with the dolphins”, ending up being torn apart by the predator. According to experts, it is unusual for sharks to venture into that part of the river. The state government has urged beachgoers to exercise “the utmost caution” and to respect any beach closures. The last fatal attack in an Australian river was recorded in 1960, when a bull shark measuring about 3.3 meters killed a swimmer at Sydney’s Roseville Bridge, according to a database maintained by the Taronga Conservation Society. In February last year, a 35-year-old British diving instructor, Simon Nellist, was eaten off Little Bay Beach in Sydney, the first such attack in the country’s largest city since 1963. According to Sports Australia, 4.5 Millions of Australians regularly swim in seas and rivers and at least 500,000 surf. (HANDLE).
(ANSA)
