Girl killed in shark attack on Australia’s west coast

SYDNEY: A 16-year-old girl died Saturday after being attacked by a shark in a river in Perth, Western Australia. She had jumped in the water to swim with a pod of dolphins.

Police said they were called to the scene of the attack at 3:45 p.m. (07:45 GMT) on Saturday near a traffic bridge on the Swan River in the Fremantle port area of Perth.

Police said in a statement that the girl was pulled from the water with serious injuries, but she died at the scene.

When the shark attacked, the police think the victim was with friends and had just jumped off a jet ski to swim with dolphins in the river.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp said that the authorities did not know what kind of shark bit the girl.

In the Swan River near Fremantle, people were told to be extra careful after the mauling.

In November 2021, a great white shark killed a 57-year-old man at Perth’s Port Beach. This was the last time a shark killed someone in Western Australia.

In January 2021, a man was badly hurt by a bull shark while swimming in the Swan River.

More than 100 types of sharks live in the waters of Western Australia, which is the largest state in the country. Bull sharks are often found many kilometres upriver.

The state government says that there is a low risk of shark attacks in the state. They have set up a special shark response unit to help first responders when there is a shark attack.

On the east coast, Bondi and Bronte, two of Sydney’s most famous beaches, were closed last February after a swimmer was killed by a shark. This was the first death at a Sydney beach in nearly 60 years.

In 2021, the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File found that Australia had the second most shark bites on humans that were not provoked. Only the United States had more.