Teenage girl killed in shark attack off Bribie Island
A 17-year-old girl has died after being bitten by a shark off Bribie Island. Shocked onlookers have recounted the horror scenes, as the girl’s close friends and family arrived.
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A teenage girl has died after being bitten by a shark off a popular beach at Bribie Island, in a tragedy in front of stunned onlookers.
Charlize Zmuda, 17, was swimming off Woorim Beach when she was attacked by the shark, with the area busy with people at the time who witnessed the incident.
Emergency service crews were sent to Rickman Pde after reports of a “serious shark bite incident” about 4.45pm but Charlize died from her injuries.
The Courier-Mail understands the teenager had bites to her upper arm and body.
It has been confirmed she was swimming about 500 metres from the patrolled beach when she was bitten and was not swimming between the flags.
It’s understood she was swimming about 100 metres out into the surf.
It is believed Charlize was with several friends at the beach when the incident occurred.
Just hours after the incident dozens of close friends and family arrived at the site.
Charlize’s parents sat down by the beach before 7.30pm while friends gathered with cartons of beer to honour her.
John Wadey was at the beach with his 11-year-old son Dylan, and mother Margret at the time of the attack.
Mr Wadey said police officers ran into the water to help the girl but she could not be saved.
“We literally just got out of the water, it might have happened while we were in the water,” Mr Wadey said.
The family had just left the beach when they heard sirens and saw the frightening scenes unfold.
The Bribie local said sharks were regularly sighted at the beach.
“There’s shark sightings every day,” he said.
“People don’t say anything, it’s common.
“They’ll talk more about seeing dolphins in the water but they (sharks) are seen every day.”
It comes weeks after school chaplain Luke Walford was killed in a shark attack near the Keppel Islands in December.
Chris Potter said he knew something awful had happened when he heard a piercing scream come from the water.
“People originally thought she had just been caught in a rip,” the local recalled.
“It was shocking.”
Mr Potter said shark sightings were often around Bribie Island however he had never known for them to get too close to the shoreline.
“I’ve lived here for a long time and I’ve never heard of something like that down here,” Mr Potter said.
The 40-year-old was spearfishing near Humpy Island, off the Yeppoon coast, when he was attacked.
Mr Walford’s death prompted calls for a shark cull in the area, with local fishermen revealing they were struggling to get fish out of the water before they were taken by sharks.
Woorim Beach is touted as the closest surf beach north of Brisbane, with waves averaging between 50cm-1m.
There are drumlines off the beach, according to the Department of Primary Industries.
It is also listed as a patrolled beach by Surf Lifesaving Queensland.
The last reported shark attack incident at Bribie Island was a young surfer who had chunks taken out of his surfboard in 2019.
Riley Brown, 17, was with two friends when the incident happened late in the afternoon, with the group paddling back to Woorim Beach.
Seven people have died in shark attacks at Queensland beaches since 2014, including three men in separate incidents in 2020.
After the attack on Bribie Island on Monday, a person in the local Woorim Locals group claimed to have seen a shark in the area for weeks and said they reported it to authorities.
Another said they had seen a shark in the passage near the Sylvan Beach fish and chip shop last week.
One woman wrote that just days ago she was swimming near where the attack happened, near the ramp at Fifth Ave.
“As Woorim locals, I just always thought it would never happen,” she wrote.
Woorim Beach is a popular destination for swimmers, surfers and for fishing.
The waters off Woorim are known to at times have big waves, rips and drags.
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Originally published as Teenage girl killed in shark attack off Bribie Island
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