Australian killed by shark on Great Barrier Reef


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BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — An 18-year-old man was killed by a shark on Monday while spearfishing on the Great Barrier Reef off the eastern Australian tourist town of Port Douglas, police said.

It was the first fatal shark attack in Australia since September, when a 50-year-old swimmer was killed at popular Byron Bay, 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the south.

In the latest attack, the man from the nearby town of Mossman was mauled while fishing with friends off Rudder Reef, police said in a statement. He was pronounced dead after his friends brought him to shore by boat.

He sustained massive injuries to his right upper leg, right groin and right upper arm, Queensland state Ambulance Service spokesman Greg Thiedecke said.

He also suffered a heart attack, likely due to blood loss, Thiedecke said.

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