Several Sydney beaches were closed Thursday after a person was killed by a shark while he was swimming, in the first such fatality on the city’s beaches in nearly 60 years.
And the areas near the site of the attack saw the deployment of means to hunt sharks, while drones were deployed as officials sought to find out if the shark was still in the area.
A video posted online showed a shark attacking a person on Wednesday afternoon off Little Bay Beach, about 20 kilometers south of Australia’s largest city and near the entrance to Botany Bay.
The police have not yet revealed the identity of this person.
The attack comes days before the start of an annual charity event, usually attended by thousands of swimmers, on a nearby beach. The event’s organizers said they were monitoring the situation and if it had to be postponed, it would take place on March 6.
The data indicates that this was the first fatal shark attack in Sydney since 1963.
The authorities ordered people to stay away from the water.