Shark kills man in Australia's Queensland state

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Today’s fatal shark attack is the third in Australia this year, and comes a week after a man was killed by a shark while spearfishing in Western Australia. — Reuters pic

SYDNEY, May 24 — A man died after a shark attack in northern Queensland state today, the third fatal shark attack this year in Australia.

The 39-year-old died from his injuries at a boat ramp after he was pulled from the water following the attack at Kennedy Shoal, an offshore reef, Queensland police said in a statement.

Emergency services were called to Hull River Heads boat ramp just before noon (10am Malaysian time), police said.

“The man was retrieved from the water and died from his injuries,” the statement said.

The man died at the boat ramp, Queensland Ambulance said.

The site is around 160 kilometres south of the popular tourist city of Cairns.

The man, who was not named by police, had been spearfishing at the submerged reef, several local charter boat operators told AFP.

Kennedy Shoal is a well-known fishing reef in deep water.

Gererd Pike of Hooked Up Fishing said his boat was six miles from Kennedy Shoal on Sunday and he had seen large numbers of “vicious, unpredictable” bull sharks in the area.

“We were chasing Spanish mackerel and had one eaten by a pack of six of them, four metres off the edge of the boat,” he told AFP.

“We were not going to dip toes in the water,” he added.

Pike said he heard the emergency services call in the incident over his boat’s radio.

Another boat charter operator with a vessel nearby said shark attacks in the area were rare, although bull sharks and tiger sharks were found there.

“It is not very common at all. It is one of those unfortunate things,” Rob Parsonage, of Mission Beach Dive, told AFP.

“The sharks are competing with the fishermen,” he said.

Today’s fatal shark attack is the third in Australia this year, and comes a week after a man was killed by a shark while spearfishing in Western Australia.

Daryl McPhee, a shark expert at Queensland’s Bond University, said fatal shark attacks are rare in north Queensland.

“There have now been six fatal bites in Queensland since 2020,” he told AFP.

The last fatal attack offshore between Townsville and Cairns was in 1990, he said.

“We do not know currently with certainty what species of shark was involved. Possible candidates are bull or tiger sharks,” he said.

McPhee added that spearfishing represents “a different risk profile than other activities and requires different approaches for mitigation compared to surfing”. — AFP