By AFP, IOL Reporter 
50m ago
Sydney – A man has died after being bitten by a shark at a beach popular with tourists on Australia’s northwest coast, authorities said on Sunday.
Police were called to a Cable Beach in the morning after reports of the attack.
The man was pulled from the water and given medical treatment but later succumbed to his injuries.
Local media reports said the man was bitten on the upper thigh and hand.
“Police can confirm that tragically the man has died,” Western Australia police said in a statement.
Shark attacks are rare on Cable Beach, a 22-kilometre stretch of pristine white sand next to the town of Broome.
The species of shark involved in the attack is not known, Sky News reported. But park rangers immediately closed the beach and a fishing vessel was assigned to patrol the area.
Authorities are generally forced to close the beach once or twice a year when deadly saltwater crocodiles are spotted nearby.
There have been at least 22 shark maulings in the same period, according to the Taronga Conservation Society Australia government agency.
According to Sky News, the victim is the eighth to die in a shark attack in Australia this year, the highest toll since 1929 when nine died.
The most recent previous attack in Esperance, Western Australia, occurred when a surfer was dragged from his board by a shark, according to his companions.
His body was later found after a three-day search.