Harrowing moment lifeguards desperately pull fatally-wounded Aussie shark victim, 59, ashore after dramatic rescue – before realising their attempts were in vain
Shocking footage has emerged of two lifeguards desperately trying to save the life of an Australian man who was mauled to death by a shark at a beach in New Caledonia.
The 59-year-old tourist was swimming near a crowded pontoon, about 150 metres from shore at the Chateau-Royal beach, south of Nouméa, on Sunday afternoon at around 4pm when he was attacked.
Two lifeguards on a jet-ski raced out to retrieve the man almost immediately after the attack and ferried him back to shore for medical attention.
In the video footage, which Daily Mail Australia has deemed too graphic to publish, the lifeguards could be seen struggling to pull the man off the jet ski after beaching it on the shore.
One lifeguard was then seen jumping off the jet ski and running up towards the nearby Hotel Chateau Royal to get help while the other grabbed the Australian man under his arms and started to pull him up the beach.
Tragic footage has emerged of two lifeguards desperately trying to save the life of an Australian man who was mauled to death by a shark at a beach in New Caledonia
The footage showed the lifeguards struggling to pull the victim onto shore, with one of them running towards a nearby hotel for help
The lifeguard holding the Australian man lost his footing at one point, falling backwards into the water.
He then tried to pull the tourist by his arms up the beach but struggled to get him out of the water before another rescuer came to help.
Once the Australian man, dressed in a pair of boardshorts, was pulled onto the sand, first responders frantically performed CPR but he was unable to be saved.
The attack happened near a pontoon that was just metres away from a jetty where beach-goers had been jumping off.
The 59-year-old Australian tourist had been swimming near a pontoon beside a jetty at the Chateau-Royal beach, south of Nouméa, on Sunday afternoon where he was attacked. A restaurant behind the jetty allows staff and customers to feed fish and sharks
Patrol crew members and paramedics desperately performed CPR on the man but he couldn’t be saved
The jetty is close by to a restaurant where guests and staff throw food into the water off a ‘viewing platform’ to feed fish – which often attracts sharks.
Horrified onlookers said the shark bit the man several times on his leg and arms.
Witnesses said one lifeguard first rushed out on his jet ski to rescue the man, with one hotel guest who saw the incident unfold guessing he may have been trying to scare the shark away.
The lifeguard then quickly returned to shore where a second lifeguard jumped on the back of the ski so they could pull the victim’s body onto it together.
Daily Mail Australia understands the man was an Australian tourist travelling alone.
He’d been staying in the nearby Le Meridien Hotel but is yet to be identified.
The guest at the Hotel Chateau said the attack happened very close to shore.
Police are seen at the scene of the fatal shark attack in Noumea
‘The poor victim was face down in the water when the jet ski got to him,’ they told Daily Mail Australia.
‘There was blood everywhere, we could see it from the beach. So many people were in the water at the same time and they’d only reopened the beach a few days ago.’
Another Chateau Hotel worker said ‘something has to be done’, with locals on high alert following three shark attacks in the area in just three weeks.
It isn’t the first time a shark attack has occurred at the beach.
On January 29, a local teacher lost her leg to a shark attack in the same body of water.
Less than a week later a foil surfer was attacked but managed to escape unharmed.
‘Lots of us had family on the beach and in the sea so there was a big panic when it happened,’ the guest said.
The Chateau Royal Beach was evacuated immediately and has since been closed with tourists urged to stick to hotel pools instead.
Authorities are now planning to cull all the tiger sharks and bull sharks in the area.
The beach is seen just two days before the attack, with dozens of swimmers enjoying the crystal clear waters
