A 12-year-old boy died on Saturday after being bitten in both legs by a large shark at a beach near Sydney earlier this week, the authorities said, amid heightened concern in Australia following a recent spate of shark encounters at popular beaches.
The boy, Nico Antic, was attacked on Sunday afternoon by what the authorities believe was a bull shark after he jumped from a popular 20-foot rock ledge at a beach in Vaucluse, a Sydney suburb. His parents, Lorena and Juan, confirmed his death in a statement.
The incident came in a period of increased shark activity during peak summer season along Australia’s southeastern coast. The attack on Nico Antic was the first of four shark encounters on the New South Wales coast over a 48-hour period earlier this week.
On Monday, a shark bit a boy’s surfboard and a few miles away another surfer was bitten on the leg. On Tuesday, a shark knocked a surfer off his board, leaving him hospitalized with minor injuries. The authorities closed more than a dozen beaches in northern Sydney.
Shark encounters increase in summer but attacks are rare in Australia. Scientists have said, however, that recent heavy rain runoff and warmer temperatures have drawn sharks closer to shore by bringing prey and nutrients into coastal waters.
Officials in New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital, have urged swimmers and surfers to follow beach closure notices and exercise caution. They have also advised people to stay close to shore, avoid murky water and swim or surf with others.
Police said they received a report at 4:15 p.m. on Sunday that a boy had been bitten by a shark. One of his friends jumped into the water to rescue him, and two others pulled him onto the shore, Superintendent Joe McNulty, commander of the police force’s Marine Area Command, told reporters on Monday.
Officers found the boy unconscious and applied two tourniquets to stop the bleeding from his legs, Superintendent McNulty said. They performed C.P.R. as they took him by boat to shore, where paramedics transported him by ambulance to a children’s hospital.
Giles Buchanan, an ambulance inspector in New South Wales, said that the boy received several blood transfusions before arriving at the hospital and was in critical condition after undergoing surgery.
The police said that the boy died at the hospital on Saturday afternoon, without naming him.
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
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