A suspected “large shark” has mauled a surfer to death in a rare fatal attack off Australia’s Sydney beach, police and rescuers said, prompting the closure of several beaches.

The incident on Saturday is only the second deadly shark attack in Australia’s most populous city after a 35-year-old British diving instructor was killed off a beach in February 2022 – the first such death in Sydney since 1963.

The victim, still unidentified, was pulled out of the Pacific surf onto shore at northern Sydney’s Long Reef Beach but died at the scene, New South Wales police said in a statement.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the man was in his 50s and was an experienced surfer. He was reportedly surfing with friends when the attack happened just 100 metres (330ft) from the shore.

The man l

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