A 60-year-old woman diver was killed by a large shark off the west Australian coast on Sunday.
This is the second fatal shark attack in Australia in less than a week. Two days before this incident an Australian surfer died after having his leg bitten off by a shark along the same coastline.
The Western Australia state police told AFP that the woman had "significant injuries that are consistent with a shark attack". The police said that three fishermen who had tried to help the woman and her partner described the shark as "larger than their boat" which was 5.3 metres.
In an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation, police inspector Danny Mulligan said the woman's diving partner revealed that he felt "something go past him" when he was in water.
"When he surfaced he saw a commotion in the water and then another boat arrived to pull him out of the water, and then it was noticed that the woman had suffered some severe and fatal injuries," said Mulligan.
"Given the nature of the injuries and the location of the incident, it is likely that a large white shark greater than 3m in size is responsible," the state's fisheries department said in a statement.
The department said that after the attack they used "capture gear" to "fish for the shark" and the local beaches were closed after the incident.
