Swimmer mauled in suspected Australia shark attack

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SYDNEY: A swimmer suffered wounds to his arms and legs yesterday after he was mauled in a suspected shark attack off Queensland state on Australia’s east coast, officials said.

The latest reported attack comes during the busy summer season, and as authorities in neighbouring New South Wales implement a range of shark-prevention measures to reduce encounters after a spate of maulings in the state last year.

The 30-year-old man was swimming off Rosslyn Bay some 670 kilometres north of Brisbane just before 12.00pm when he was believed to have been bitten by a shark, the state’s ambulance service said.

“(He has) lacerations to the arms and legs,” an ambulance spokesman told AFP.

“He is still being assessed. He’s just arrived to the shore now and will be transferred to Rockhampton Hospital shortly.”

The swimmer was in a stable condition and would be transferred to another hospital in Brisbane later Sunday, a Rockhampton Hospital spokesman told AFP.

The man was believed to have been snorkelling off Miall Island near Rosslyn Bay, a local coast guard officer told Brisbane’s Courier Mail newspaper.

“From what I understand he was snorkelling a bit off the beach and said he saw a lot of fish and then the shark came out of nowhere,” Yeppoon Coast Guard flotilla commander Arthur Hunt said. — AFP