Shark kills man on Australia's Gold Coast tourist strip

A man has been killed by a shark off the coast of Queensland, Australia, the sixth fatal shark attack in the country this year.

The surfer, in his 50s, was bitten on the leg off Greenmount Beach in Coolangatta, near the Queensland-New South Wales border, at around 5pm on Monday.

The beach was ostensibly protected by a shark net.

A coastal watch camera recorded bystanders rushing into the water to help the man and his fellow surfers.

Surf Life Saving Queensland members training in the area were among the first to provide help, along with Gold Coast council lifeguards.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman told local media that paramedics treated the man for critical injuries at the scene.

Emergency services attended and evacuated the water in the surrounding area, and local authorities closed a significant stretch of coast line to the north and south of Greenmount beach.

A helicopter was deployed to search for the shark.

There has not been a fatal shark attack on the Gold Coast since 2003, but nationally this is sixth fatal shark attack in Australia this year, and the third in Queensland.

Across June and July Australia suffered three fatal shark attacks in a five-week period.

In July, 17-year-old surfer Mani Hart-Deville was attacked at Wooli Beach, New South Wales, and died from his injuries.

The teenager’s death came just one week after 36-year-old Matthew Tratt was killed off the coast of Fraser Island, Queensland, by a shark while spearfishing.

In October last year, the Queensland government said a number of reports had indicated that catching and releasing sharks did not work in the Great Barrier Reef.

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said in a statement: “Unfortunately sharks don’t immediately leave the area and head into deeper water for extended periods of time, like the white sharks that have been tagged in trials in New South Wales.”