Australian authorities said a 16-year-old girl was killed on Saturday when she was attacked by a shark while she was swimming in a river in Western Australia.
The girl was seriously injured by a shark of an unknown species in the Swan River in Fremantle, on the outskirts of Perth, according to a statement from the state government. This river is located just a few tens of meters from the Indian Ocean, showing that there is a river Sharks
Paul Robinson of Fremantle Police said she was pulled from the water and pronounced dead at the scene after attempts to revive her failed. “It’s still very early, what we do know is that she was on the river with her friends,” he said at a news conference.
In the water “swim with dolphins”
They were on jet skis. A pod of dolphins was seen nearby and the girl jumped into the water to swim with the dolphins.
He added that the girl’s family, from Perth, were “deeply shocked by the news” of the “extremely painful incident”. Robinson said experts say it’s not uncommon to find sharks in this part of the river.
A call for caution
Robinson said experts say it’s not uncommon to find sharks in this part of the river. The state government urged citizens to exercise “extra caution” on the Swan River and respect the beach closures.
The last fatal attack in a river in Australia dates back to 1960, when a bull shark estimated to be 3.3 meters long attacked a diver on Sydney’s Roseville Bridge, according to a database maintained by the Taronga Conservation Society.
In February last year, a 35-year-old British diving instructor, Simon Nelist, was devoured off Sydney’s Little Bay beach, in the first such attack since 1963 in the country’s largest city.
