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A 16-year-old girl has died in a shark attack in Australia.
Authorities in the Fremantle District District said the teenager had been swimming with a pod of dolphins in the Swan River shortly before the tragedy on Saturday, WA Today reported. First responders attempted to administer CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A teenager who was in the river with several friends described how responding officers rushed to rescue the girl before being told to leave the water by a man on a jet ski.
“When all the police came we thought we were in trouble,” he told WA Today. “They looked at us and they didn’t tell us about it which is worrying because we were still jumping from the rope swing after it happened.”
“We’re very grateful it wasn’t one of us, of course, we’re very sorry for what happened and for the families involved,” he added.
Friends of the victim also witnessed the attack, according to East Fremantle District Inspector Paul Robinson.
Mr Robinson said he had been jet skiing and jumped into the water at around 3.20pm shortly before the incident.
“It’s a very traumatic event for everyone involved and everyone who knows the young lady, so I won’t go into the extent of the trauma,” Mr Robinson told WA Today. “It’s unusual for a shark to be this far down the river”
A shark warning was sent out asking visitors to stay away from the scene while police investigated.
The last time a shark killed a person in an Australian river was exactly a century ago, when a 13-year-old was bitten to death in 1923, according to WA Today.
About 20 shark attacks are recorded in Australia each year, reports the BBC. Two fatal cases were recorded in 2021, while seven were recorded the previous year.
It was not revealed what type of shark attacked the teenager.
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