A 12-year-old boy is fighting for his life in hospital after being mauled by a large shark in Sydney Harbour, Australian police said on Monday.
The marine predator struck on Sunday afternoon while the boy and his friends were jumping into the water off the harbour’s Shark Beach.
“It was a horrendous scene at the time when police attended. We believe it was something like a bull shark that attacked the lower limbs of that boy,” said Superintendent Joseph McNulty, New South Wales marine area police commander.
“That boy is fighting for his life now.”
At the time of the attack, the children were leaping into the water off a 6-metre (20ft) rock in the eastern Sydney suburb of Vaucluse.
Recent heavy rain had drained into the harbour, turning the water murky, police said.
“We believe the combination of the brackish water, the fresh water, the actions of the splashing may have made that perfect storm environment for that shark attack yesterday,” McNulty told reporters.
