Shark attacks boy in Cape
2007-11-08 14:40
Cape Town - A 14-year-old boy was recovering in hospital after he was attacked by a shark in Strand, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said on Thursday.
NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said Andrew Smith - who lived in the area - was surfing at about 17:30 on Wednesday when he felt something pulling him by the legs.
"He recognised it to be a shark estimated to be between 1.5 and two metres," said Lambinon.
He managed to free himself and swim to shore where he was treated by a local doctor and taken to hospital.
"He had puncture bite marks to both his feet," he said.
Lambinon said shark spotters had been dispatched to the area and the Shark Working Group was appealing to surfers and swimmers to exercise caution in the water.
He said a member of the Shark Working Group had also been sent to the hospital to investigate Smith's bite marks and try and determine what species of shark attacked him.
- SAPA