Man killed in shark attack on popular Western Australian beach resort

A MAN HAS died after being attacked by a shark in Western Australia, marking the eighth death in the country this year.

Police were called to Cable Beach, a popular tourist spot on Australia’s Indian Ocean coast, around 8.40am.

The 55-year-old man was pulled out of the water with serious injuries and was treated by police before paramedics arrived. He died at the scene, police said.

Police later said they shot the shark, which remained close to shore, for nearly half an hour after the attack.

The species of the shark was not immediately confirmed, but locals told reporters that it may have been a tiger shark, which are sometimes attracted close to shore by shoals of small fish.

Kimberley District Office Police Inspector Gene Pears told reporters that the victim had been bodyboarding about 30 to 40 meters from the beach when he was attacked.

A couple on the beach saw him wallow in the water and rushed to drag the man to safety. The man suffered injuries to his leg and hand.

“It’s a tragic incident, very unexpected, a person going out to have a little fun in the water,” Pears said.

Park rangers immediately closed the beach and a fishing boat was assigned to patrol the area.

The victim was the eighth to die in a shark attack in Australia this year, the highest number since 1929 when nine were killed.

The introduction of shark nets on popular beaches in the 1930s led to a significant drop in fatal attacks.

The most recent previous attack in Western Australia occurred on October 9, when a shark captured a surfer in Esperance, on the south coast of the state.

The companions saw the man, Andrew Sharpe, dragged from his board. His body was not found despite a three-day search, but his surfboard and parts of his wetsuit were located.

Broome, near where the last shark attack took place, is about 1,000 miles north of Western Australia’s largest city, Perth.