호주에서 딸과 함께 가리비를 잡던 남성이 상어의 공격으로 숨지는 사고가 발생했다.
AFP통신 등 외신들에 따르면 호주 태즈메이니아 섬 해변에서 25일(현지시간) 오전 가리비를 잡기 위해 잠수를 하던 40대 남성이 딸이 보는 가운데 약 4ｍ 길이 백상아리의 공격을 받아 목숨을 잃었다.
아버지와 함께 잠수했다 먼저 배에 올라온 딸은 아버지가 돌아오지 않자 다시 물속에 뛰어들었다가 커다란 상어가 아버지를 공격하는 장면을 목격했다.딸은 곧바로 물 밖으로 나와 배에 있던 신호탄을 터뜨려 주변 배들에 도움을 요청했다고 현지 언론은 전했다.
현장에 있던 한 목격자는 "사람들이 산소 공급호스를 함께 잡아당겨 그를 물 위까지 올렸지만 불행히도 이미 심하게 다친 상태였다"고 말했다.
태즈메이니아 섬에서 상어 공격으로 사람이 사망한 것은 1993년 이후 처음이다.
호주 전체를 놓고보면 지난 2월 관광지에서 서핑을 즐기던 일본인 40대 남성이 상어에게 두 다리를 물린 뒤 숨진 바 있다.
또 지난 19일에는 남아프리카공화국 해안에서 호주의 베테랑 서퍼 믹 패닝이 상어와 사투를 벌여 물리치는 모습이 TV에 고스란히 중계돼 화제를 모으기도 했다.
영국 방송 BBC에 따르면 1900년 이후 호주에서 상어 공격으로 사망한 사람은 모두 277명이다. 최근에는 1년에 2명꼴로 상어에 목숨을 잃고 있다.
전문가들은 해양 스포츠가 대중화되면서 상어 공격 사례가 늘고 있지만 공격이 심각한 인명 피해를 일으키는 경우는 드물다고 설명했다. (연합)
<관련 영문 기사>
Diver killed by shark in Australia as daughter watches
A diver was killed by a shark Saturday while hunting scallops off the coast of Australia as his daughter watched helplessly, shocking locals in an area not known for such attacks.
The attack happened off Maria Island in the southern island state of Tasmania following sightings of a large great white shark in the vicinity over recent days.
The man, in his late 40s, was diving with his adult daughter when he failed to resurface.
“My understanding is the daughter returned to the boat and the father returned to get some more scallops,” Tasmania Police Inspector David Wiss told reporters. “He did not return to the surface.
“His daughter became worried and went down and checked on her father, she saw a very large shark, she saw her father being attacked by the shark.”
The woman, who is in her 20s, according to the Australian Associated Press, scrambled back on board their dingy and set off a flare to attract attention.
Other boats came to her aid and helped haul her father back to the surface using the air hose he was attached to.
“But unfortunately he was fatally injured,” added Wiss.
Tasmanian Scallop Association president John Hammond said the area, off the state’s east coast, was not known for sharks.
“Absolute tragedy for the family. Bloody terrible,” he told national radio, adding that there were a number of other divers in the water at the time.
The diver was in the shallow water and “it just struck out of the blue, and bang.”
According to Sydney Taronga Zoo’s Australian Shark Attack file, the last fatal shark attack in Tasmania was in 1993, when a woman was killed while scuba diving near a seal colony off the state’s north coast.
Michael Kent, mayor of nearby Glamorgan Spring Bay, said Saturday’s incident was “absolutely devastating”.
“I feel for the family,” he told The Examiner newspaper in Tasmania, adding that a 4.5 metre (15 foot) shark had been spotted in the area a number of times over the past week.
“It’s a recreational area. The scallop season has been very good to professional and recreational fisherman and then we’ve got a disaster like this.
“The whole community down here will be deeply in shock.”
Diver Danny Smith told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he and a friend had a close call in the same area on Friday.
He said he saw a great white while he was in the water but managed to get back on his boat, where he and other crew frantically pulled the friend aboard.
“The (shark) came to the surface to see where I’d gone I presumed and she sort of took a swipe at him (his friend),” he said.
“We saw fins and arms and legs going everywhere, we were initially thinking that we were going to pull in half a body.
“We got him on the boat and she came right to the back of the boat and then just descended back to the bottom.”
Sharks are a regular feature in Australian waters, and swimmers and surfers have had their share of encounters this year.
Earlier this month, a bodyboarder was left fighting for his life after an attack on the country’s east coast, close to where a Japanese surfer was killed in February.
Experts say attacks are increasing as water sports become more popular, but fatalities remain rare. (AFP)
