A 59-year-old Australian tourist is the latest victim of a shark attack on the beaches of Nouméa, capital of the South Pacific archipelago of French-controlled New Caledonia. CCTV footage of the incident confirms initial reports that the man was swimming near a pontoon on the popular Chateau Royal beach around 4pm when he was bitten “multiple times”. Local reports suggest lifeguards could hear screams coming from the water, prompting them to act and evacuate the beach. The man was rescued by two people on a jet ski who were nearby when other terrified swimmers in the water rushed out. Witnesses tried to keep the man alive on the beach, but he succumbed to his injuries. The paramedic Dr. Vincent Ouradou told local broadcaster La 1ère that he had been bitten on his arms and legs at least three times. While the man is the first fatality, it is the third attack on this beach in recent weeks. According to local reports, a woman was badly bitten on the same beach in late January, while in another incident a swimmer was “attacked” by a shark. The mayor of Nouméa, Sonia Lagarde (Renaissance), immediately closed most of the city‘s beaches and announced a culling campaign to capture tiger sharks and bulldog sharks in the area. The shark species of the latest attack was unclear.
Read it at La 1ère