A swimmer who was mauled – purportedly to death – by a shark desperately screamed “help” and “they’re biting me” during the ordeal.
The man disappeared from sight despite bravely battling with the predator in the sea off Hadera, north-west Israel. The shark had been swimming around other people at the beach before it then was seen attacking a man by the Orot Rabin power station. The man thrashed around for a moment, before the sea suddenly turned a bright red colour as he appeared to be bitten. Onlookers watched on in horror from the beach as fins and limbs splashed around but there was nothing that they could do.
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A beachgoer who called the emergency services told them, “There’s someone here that a shark has bitten. He’s screaming, ‘Help!’ He’s in the sea at Hadera. He’s drowning.” She added: “He’s in the sea. Nobody’s coming to save him.”
“Do you still see the man?” the operator asked. “Do you have eye contact with him.” And she added: “No, I can’t see him.” Another beachgoer said the man screamed: “They’re biting me,” and waved his hands in the air.” Soon after that, she said, the sharks dragged him further out to sea.
In mobile phone footage a man could be heard shouting, “Wow, wow, he’s with the shark, he’s fighting him,” as the swimmer was seen in the distance. “They’re eating him, eating the man… Can’t see him.”
Authorities are now conducting a search for the missing, according to emergency services, and police have closed the beach until further notice. The shark was first seen swimming by paddlers in shallow water with some of the people horrified and rushing to shore while others appeared to be happy to stay and watch the predators, reported the Times of Israel.
Reports in Israel also say that the shark attacked a rescue diver searching for the man while the Hadera municipality’s Coastal Department said it is carrying out searches by jet ski to locate the male swimmer. The man’s belongings were found on the beach.
The incident took place in an area of the beach where swimming was already prohibited said the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. It stated: “The Authority reiterates its warning against interacting with sharks and once again calls on the public to avoid approaching them, as they are protected animals.”
Dusky and sandbar sharks, which frequent the area during the period November to May, are not known to normally attack humans. A police spokesperson said: “A short time ago, police officers from the Hadera station were dispatched following a report from citizens who claimed to have seen a shark attacking a diver in the water.
“We will continue to update according to developments. We call on the public travelling in the area to avoid entering the water and coming into contact with the sharks.”
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