Fatal Shark Attack – Ballina NSW, Australia

A MAN has been killed in a shark attack on the NSW northern coast after both his legs were apparently bitten off.

The man, who was pulled from Shelly Beach, near Ballina, by a group of surfers was given first aid and CPR but died at the scene. Friends of the man, believed to be in his 40s, told local cafe owner, Karen, the shark came out from nowhere.

“It just came up between a bunch of surfers,” she said.

“They weren’t even that far out.

“He lost both his legs.” The victim’s friends were shaken up and looked “white as a ghost” as they carried their mate’s board away from the beach, the local said.

Beaches were closed between South Ballina and Lennox Head after the attack that happened just before 10am on Monday, police said.

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Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW) officers and lifeguards cleared the beach at Ballina at the direction of police.

Beaches are not patrolled at this time of year but as a result of the shark attack, lifeguards will be stationed at all beaches around Ballina to keep the public informed and out of the water, SLSNSW said in a statement on Monday.

Lifeguards patrolling the waters on inflatable rescue boats and jet skis continue to look for the shark.

It happened a day after another surfer was reportedly bitten by a shark at Seven Mile Beach, near Byron Bay, just 25km north of Ballina.

The 35-year-old man was sitting on his board about 60 metres off the beach, when he was struck from behind.

The father of one is recovering in Gold Coast Hospital.

He said he didn’t see what hit him and neither did a friend surfing with him, but he suffered a cut to his back and puncture wounds to his buttocks believed to be from a three-metre-shark. “I saw blood and I thought I’d better get back to shore,” the 35-year-old told the Seven Network on Monday.

He drove himself to Byron Bay Hospital and was taken to Gold Coast Hospital where he is in a stable condition.

Police have yet to interview to the man.

Monday’s attack is the third shark fatality in 10 months in NSW. In September, 50-year-old Paul Wilcox was killed by a great white shark while swimming at Byron Bay.

Christine Armstrong, 63, was killed by a shark at Tathra Beach in April last year while swimming in the morning.

AAP