CORRECTION 7th July 2020 08:21 UTC: The previous report indicated this was scuba diving, it is now confirmed the diver was freedive spearfishing.
An Australian spearo was killed in a shark attack over the weekend, according to local news reports.
The attack took place about 2 pm on July 4th while the Sunshine Coast man, 36, was spearfishing off Fraser Island, near Australia’s eastern Queensland coast. The diver, identified as Matthew Tratt, was married and a father of two children.
Rescue workers were winched down by helicopter to render aid, but their efforts were in vain and Tratt died at the scene of wounds to his leg. A doctor and nurse provided first aid to him on shore before paramedics arrived.
He suffered a bite to his leg and died from the injury about two-and-a-half hours later, police say.
According to Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk:
“(It is) very tragic and, of course, our condolences go out to the family of the man who lost his life off the coast of Fraser Island in that brutal shark attack.”
Tratt is the third diver from Queensland to be killed by a shark attack this year, according to Australia’s 9 News. However, no deaths were recorded last year.
(Image credit: Facebook)
