A shark attack on Wednesday afternoon killed a swimmer off a Sydney beach, causing "catastrophic injuries", police and ambulance services say.
Little Bay beach in New South Wales, Australia. (File image) Photo: 123RF
Local media said it was the first fatal shark attack in Sydney since 1963.
Emergency services were called at around 4.35pm (0535 GMT) to Buchan Point, Malabar, in Sydney's east, NSW police said. It said Little Bay Beach had been closed.
"Officers attached to Eastern Beaches Police Area Command, with assistance from the Marine Area Command and Surf Life Saving NSW, attended and located human remains in the water," it said.
Police offered no information about the identity of the swimmer.
A NSW Ambulance spokesperson said paramedics were called to Little Bay, "unfortunately this patient had suffered catastrophic injuries and there was nothing paramedics could do."
A witness described how he was fishing off rocks in the area and saw a man wearing a wetsuit swimming across the bay.
He said the man was right in front of him when he was dragged under the water by a large shark.
"When he went down, there were so many splashes," the man said.
He said the attack lasted for several seconds.
"It was terrible. I am shaking," he said.
"He just went down for a swim, enjoying the day, but that shark took his life."
-Reuters / ABC