Teenage girl killed in shark attack off Bribie Island
A teenage girl has become Australia’s latest victim of a shark attack, this time near a Queensland beach.
A 17-year-old girl has died after being mauled by a shark off Bribie Island, just north of Brisbane, on Monday afternoon.
The Queensland Ambulance Service confirmed it responded to a “serious shark bite incident” at Woorim Beach and treated the girl for life-threatening upper body injuries before she died at the beach.
It’s understood the girl was bitten on her upper arm and body about 100m offshore.
The beach was reportedly crowded with people at the time of the attack, who may have witnessed the tragedy.
It is believed she was with several friends at the beach, with dozens of close friends and family rushing to the scene shortly after the incident.
The girl’s parents sat down by the beach before 7.30pm (AEST) while friends gathered with cartons of beer to honour her.
John Wadey told The Courier Mail he 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.
It is the third shark attack in Queensland in three months, and the second fatal attack in just over a month.
In December, 40-year-old Luke Walford was killed while spearfishing in the Southern Great Barrier Reef near Humpy Island.
His death prompted calls for a shark cull in the area.
Earlier that month, a man was hospitalised after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing off Curtis Island, near Gladstone.
And in January this year, surfer Lance Appleby was killed in a shark attack off the coast of South Australia.
Woorim Beach is a part of a long stretch of beach on the eastern side of Bribie Island, which is about 90km north of Brisbane in Moreton Bay.
The beach is patrolled by lifeguards but it is not known if the teenage girl was swimming between flags at the time of the attack.
Shark control measures such as drumlines have been used at the beach to catch and reduce the number of dangerous sharks in proximity, according to the Department of Primary Industries.
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