Swimmer missing after suspected shark attack off Australian west coast
Emergency crews rushed to Sorrento Beach in Perth on Friday morning with a police search underway.
Swimmer missing after suspected shark attack off Australian west coast
Police are searching for a swimmer who is missing in waters off Australia’s west coast after a suspected shark attack.
Emergency crews were dispatched to a "shark-related incident" at Sorrento Beach in Perth, Western Australia, at around 10.15 local time on Friday.
Three St John ambulance crews responded, and local authorities said that "water police and the police air wing" were still at the scene as they looked for a missing person.
One witness said they saw a man being dragged under the water by a shark, just 50 metres from shore, while another reported seeing a "pool of blood" in the water, according to local media.
A witness told local outlet WAtoday that she saw the man being "mauled" as the shark "tossed him around like a fish".
"I'm a nurse, so I mean I obviously see a lot of gruesome stuff, but to see somebody being mauled to death in the water in front of me is pretty hard to clock," she told WAtoday.
"I only live just down the road, and I swim every day. I mean, there's no way I'm going to be getting in that water again."
Another witness said she was walking along the beach with a friend when the attack took place.
"I looked out to the ocean and I could see a pool of blood," Jacqui Rapaic told national broadcaster ABC.
The beach is still closed to the public, and authorities have urged people to stay away from the area.