A surfer died on Monday on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion after a shark bit off his leg, officials said.
Fellow surfers were able to haul Alexandre Rassica, a 22-year-old local, back to the beach at Trois-Bassins on the west of the island after the attack.
But when paramedics arrived he was in a state of cardiac arrest, officials said.
La Reunion, a popular tourist destination, last year saw six shark attacks on humans, two of them deadly.
A holidaymaker has released photos of a horrible injury she received when she was bitten while swimming off a beach in Elche, Alicante.
The 40-year-old Spanish woman let out a blood curdling scream and was dragged bleeding from the sea by her husband and a lifeguard who came to her aid while she was swimming with her five-year-old son on DAY.
“She felt a great pain,” her husband told local newspaper El Informacion. “And let out a scream that scared us all.”
She was paddling in shallow water which came to just below the knee and at first, she presumed she had stepped on broken glass.
But she was taken to hospital medical staff said it was clear that the injuries were sustained by a fish bite.
.jpg)
She was treated for a partially severed tendon in her foot as well as several other cuts that required stitches.
Un pez muerde a una bañista y le secciona un tendón del pie en la playa del Rebollo de #Elche https://t.co/QuOx15yg0N
— INFORMACION.es (@informacion_es) August 8, 2019
She was discharged several hours later and left the hospital on crutches and with a bandaged lower leg.
The couple from Valladolid in northern Spain were on the last day of their holiday, staying at a campsite near El Rebollo beach in Elche on the Costa Blanca.
Lifeguard service together with local police patrolled the beach looking for the culprit and caught a large Bluefish, which they believe was responsible for the incident.
☑️ La Opinión de Murcia#ELCHE | Capturan un pez golfar en El Rebollo tras sufrir una una mordedura en el pie https://t.co/jPPOoziobI
— La Azohía, Mí Azohía #miazohia (@miazohia) August 8, 2019
Known as Pez Golfar in Spanish, the species (Latin name Pomatomus saltatrix) can measure between half a meter to a meter in length and is commonly found in Mediterranean waters.
It does not normally attack people but preys on smaller fish in the shallow water.
Image of a bluefish, the likely culprit. Photo: Wikimedia
Please whitelist us to continue reading.
So this website can function correctly please whitelist The Local with your adblocker, antivirus software or browser add on.
Please visit the help centre for more information
Member comments