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A woman was tragically pronounced dead on a beach after being mauled in a horrifying shark attack. The victim was swimming off the coast of South Africa’s Eastern Cape province when the attack unfolded.
The 65-year-old woman was swimming with a group near Orient Beach in KuGompo City when she indicated she was in trouble shortly after 8am local time (7am BST) on Tuesday, a witness told South African public broadcaster SABC.
The man said: “We all realised she’d been bitten by a shark, and she was in a very bad way. The bites were very severe, but there were only two, one on her thigh and one on her upper arm.”
She was sadly declared dead after being brought back to shore, the witness added. The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality confirmed the shark attack and said it resulted in a “tragic incident”.
The municipality urged people “to exercise extreme caution and to refrain from entering the water at the affected beaches”. They added warnings were being issued at other beaches.
Orient Beach and nearby Eastern Beach have been closed until further notice.
In 2025 there were 65 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File. In 2024 there were 47.
The report said that 12 of last year’s shark attacks resulted in human fatalities. Five of the deadly shark attacks happened in Australia, where 21 unprovoked shark attacks were recorded.
Surfers and those doing board sports accounted for 32% unprovoked shark bites, swimmers and waders made up 46%, with snorkelers or free divers accounting for 15%.
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