South Africa: Great white sharks kill two swimmers as body washes up

A portion of the right upper arm and right chest was missing from the body found (Picture: Getty Images)

Great white sharks are believed to have brutally killed two swimmers in South Africa.

A man’s decomposing body washed up with chunks of flesh missing on La Lucia beach in Durban on Friday.

Shortly after the discovery at 4.30pm, the body of a second man was sighted but it was swept away by the current.

Netcare 911, the country’s emergency medical service, said the deaths appeared to be linked to shark attacks.

Spokesperson Shawn Herbst said: ‘Reports indicate that while walking on the beach, a man came across the decomposing body of an adult male face down between washed-up flotsam.

‘When medics turned the body over for assessments they found that a portion of the right upper arm and right chest were missing with multiple shark bites clearly visible.

‘A second body was also found in the shore break, but it had been washed back out to sea by the strong surf before lifeguards arrived on scene.’

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An investigation has been launched and will be handed over to the Durban South African Police Service.

It’s hoped the exact cause of death can be confirmed by experts.

The tragedies follow the news that a tourist was mauled to death by a tiger shark on a Caribbean island in March.

Violent incidents such as these remain rare, with 57 confirmed unprovoked shark attack cases worldwide in 2020, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File.

The 2015 to 2019 average was 80 incidents every year.

Great white sharks are responsible for the largest number of attacks, with tiger sharks second.

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