The body of a man mauled by a great white shark washed up on a South African beach, while another person is reportedly missing.
Beaches can be full of icky sights: washed-up jellyfish; dog poo sneakily shuffled under the sand; dead birds and rabbits which your dog will inevitably try to roll in.
However, last Friday (1 April), a beachgoer was talking a stroll when he caught sight of something truly horrific: a man's decomposing body after parts of him appeared to have been devoured by a great white shark.
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Emergency services were contacted at 4:30pm, after a drowning was reported.
According to Netcare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst, parts of the man's right upper arm and right chest area were missing when his body appeared on La Lucia Beach in Durban.
He said (as per Times Live): "Although authorities will determine the exact cause of death, it is believed the deceased had been predated on following the drowning.
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"Reports indicate that a 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 assessment, it was found that a portion of the right upper arm and right chest area were missing, with multiple shark bite marks clearly visible.”
It's unclear whether he was with the other person at the time of their death, but the body was spotted in the water before it was pulled back out with the tide.
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Herbst said: "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."
Progress on the second body is unclear, but the first body has been handed over to Durban North Police for further investigation.
Around 70 shark attacks are reported each year. In 2012, bodybuilder David Lilienfeld died after being dragged under the water by a great white shark at a popular South African beach.
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Earlier this year, diving instructor Simon Nellist was killed at Little Bay Beach, near Sydney, Australia.
On Christmas Eve last year, Californian bodyboarder Tomas Abraham Butterfield was bitten in the head, chest and shoulder by a great white in Morro Bay.
He died from 'complications of multiple penetrating blunt force traumatic injuries,' after being attacked by a great white, according to a coroner’s report, as per the New York Post.
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Topics: Animals, World News
Cameron Frew