A shark has fatally attacked an Australian man kitesurfing in New Caledonia.
The incident happened yesterday in the South Pacific territory and local officials told media it was the second fatal attack the region has had in just six months.
“The man in his 50s was kitesurfing inside the reef at Koumac. He fell and was bitten,” Nicolas Renaud, head of the archipelago’s marine rescue co-ordination centre, told AFP.
The name of the man is yet to be realised but he is believed to be from Fremantle in Western Australia.
A rescue boat was sent to assist in the emergency but the man was unable to be saved.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirmed they knew about the incident and were in the process of aiding the man’s family.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian man who died off Koumac, New Caledonia, on 6 September,” a DFAT spokeswoman said.
“Out of respect for the privacy of the man’s family, we will not be making further comment.”
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