A teenage girl was killed by a shark while swimming off an Australian beach popular with tourists and surfers.
The 17-year-old was in the water off Woorim Beach on Bribie Island, north of Brisbane, Queensland, earlier today when she was attacked.
Emergency services rushed to the scene at around 4.45pm local time.
Queensland Ambulance said they attended a ‘serious shark bite incident’ and treated the girl for life-threatening upper body injuries,
‘The female sustained life-threatening injuries and succumbed to those injuries just after 5pm,’ police said.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Local resident Christopher Potter said he was on the beach just after it happened.
‘There are a lot of swimming groups that swim along here, morning and afternoon,’ he told ‘It’s known there are a lot of sharks around Bribie, but this close to shore, it’s still a shock.’
Being the closest surf beach to Brisbane, Woorim Beach is also very popular with surfers.
This is the third fatal shark attack in Australia over the past two months.
In December 40-year-old pastor Luke Walford was killed while spearfishing in the Southern Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, near Humpy Island, while in January Lance Appleby, 28, was mauled to death as he surfed off the coast of South Australia.