Peter Allen
Daily Mail
July 16, 2013
- French teenager ‘died instantly’ in shark attack on paradise island
- Girl, 15, was holidaying on Reunion, off the coast of Madagascar
- The teenager was sliced in half by a shark, 15ft off the beach
- Her sister watched as a part of the girl’s body was taken by the shark
A teenage girl ‘died instantly’ when she was sliced in two by a shark while snorkelling near the beach on a paradise island in the Indian Ocean.
The 15-year-old, who lives on the French mainland, was less than 15 feet (five metres) from the shore of the island of Reunion, located off the coast of Madagascar, when the savage attack took place.
Her terrified sister was among those who saw the girl schoolgirl disappear under the water at around 3pm today.
The teenager’s body was sliced in two at the torso, and then ‘a part of her body was taken away by the shark,’ said a said Gina Hoarau, the head of public safety on the island.
She added: ‘The girls were in an area of St Paul bay where swimming is not allowed. She would have died instantly.
‘The operation to recover the upper part of her body is ongoing.’
Huguette Bello, the mayor of St Paul, said: ‘The girl, who was 15, came from mainland France and spent her holidays on the island.
‘She was staying on the island with her father, who is in charge of the yacht club in St Paul.
‘Both of the girls had masks and snorkels on, and were swimming just in front of the Bay restaurant.’