Graphic details have emerged from an emergency call after a swimmer was brutally mauled by a shark. The swimmer is missing and feared dead following the attack near the coast of Hadera, in Israel, on Monday.
Witnesses described how the swimmer had been screaming desperately for “help” and “they’re biting me” before he disappeared. Israel’s medical emergency response organisation, Magden David Adom, received a report that a man had been “bitten by a shark at a beach in Hadera.” But more details have since emerged following the attack, noting the desperate struggle to find the swimmer. The organisation added: “Medics and paramedics are currently searching the area.”
It added: “At this stage, the reportedly injured person has not yet been located.” A police spokesperson told the Jerusalem Post: “A short time ago, police officers from the Hadera station were dispatched following a report from citizens who claimed to have seen a shark attacking a diver in the water.
“We will continue to update according to developments. We call on the public travelling in the area to avoid entering the water and coming into contact with the sharks.”
Authorities have since conducted a search, according to emergency services and police the beach had been closed on Monday until further notice. The shark was reportedly first seen swimming by beachgoers in the shallow water with some rushing back to shore.
Footage taken around the time of the attack showed the swimmer being mauled near the Orot Rabin power station. The man was later seen thrashing about for a moment before the sea turned a bright red colour, indicating he might have been bitten.
According to local reports in the Mediterranean country, the shark also attacked a rescue diver who had been searching for the man. The Hadera municipality’s Coastal Department also added it had been carrying out searches by jet ski in a bid to find the swimmer. His belongings were later found on the beach.
Additional footage shared to social media also showed helicopters scanning the water for the missing man. The attack happened at a part of the beach where swimming was reportedly prohibited, according to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
The organisation said: “The Authority reiterates its warning against interacting with sharks and once again calls on the public to avoid approaching them, as they are protected animals.” Shark attacks are relatively rare in Israel with dusky and sandbar sharks being known to be in the region from around November to May and are not known to normally attack humans.
The Nature and Parks Authority repeated its warning on Monday “against interacting with sharks. We again call on the public not to approach the sharks, which are protected animals.”
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