Shark kills Australian tourist

NOUMEA: A shark killed a 59-year-old Australian tourist on Sunday near a crowded beach in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, authorities said.

The man was swimming close to a pontoon around 150 metres (500 feet) from the beach in the capital Noumea when the shark attacked, biting him several times, they said.

Two people sailing their boat nearby rushed him back to the beach, where emergency services tried to save him. The man had major bite wounds in his leg and both arms, local prosecutor Yves Dupas told AFP. He died at the scene despite receiving cardiac massage.

Many people were in the water at the time and witnessed the incident at the Chateau-Royal beach just south of Noumea. There was a panicked rush back onto the beach and police evacuated the area. Noumea’s mayor, Sonia Lagarde, ordered the closure of most beaches in the area and the capture of tiger sharks and bull sharks in nearby waters. Drones were deployed to track them and two were sighted before operations were suspended at nightfall, police said.