World newsBoy, 10, dies after shark attack
Guardian Unlimited TravelA 10-year-old boy has died after being attacked by a shark while swimming off the Virginia coast. It was the first fatality after a summer of shark attacks off the US east coast.
David Peltier, from Richmond, Virginia, was surfing and swimming about 50 yards from the shore in water only about 4ft deep when he was bitten by the 8ft shark.
His father, Richard, who was surfing nearby, wrestled with the shark, punched it on the head, and managed to free the boy from its jaws.
The boy was treated on the shore by lifeguards and paramedics before being taken to three different hospitals in a bid to save his life.
However, the attack had severed an artery in one of the boy's legs and he had lost large amounts of blood. David, whose two brothers had been surfing nearby, died early yesterday morning at the Chil dren's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk.
Rex Carter, a witness to the attack, said: "There were shark bites all along his leg. It also looked like maybe the shark got him right inside the thigh. He lost a lot of blood."
The attack, which took place off Sandridge Beach, just south of Virginia Beach, was believed to be by a sandbar shark. It was the first reported in the area for 30 years, according to Ed Brazle, chief of the local emergency medical services.
Meyera Oberndorf, the mayor of Virginia Beach, said: "I speak for the entire city of Virginia Beach when I say how terribly saddened I am by this horrible accident."
Helicopters later carried out surveillance of the area before declaring it shark-free. The beaches were open yesterday and people were fishing in the waters.
In July, eight-year-old Jesse Arbogast lost an arm in a shark attack off Florida's Gulf coast. The boy's father had wrestled with the the shark and pulled it ashore. The boy's arm was found in the shark's gullet and reattached by surgery, but the boy is still in a coma.
Of the 40 shark attacks worldwide this year, none had been fatal, according to the International Shark Attack File, based at the based at the University of Florida. Twenty-eight have occurred in Florida waters. Last year, there were 79 shark attacks worldwide, 51 in the US.
According to the ISAF, administered by the American Elasmobranch Society, bees, wasps and snakes are responsible for far more fatalities each year, and in the US the annual risk of death from lightning is 30 times greater than that from shark attack.
The ISAF estimates that there are on average between five and 15 fatal attacks annually, but that those in third world countries are often not reported internationally.
Beach attacks
July 6 Jesse Arbogast, 8, has chunk bitten out of his leg, and his arm ripped off by 7ft bull shark off Florida's Gulf coast. Arm was reattached but Jesse remains in coma
July 16 A-48-year-old surfer is bitten in the leg by a shark, also off Florida's Gulf coast.
August 4 Krishna Thompson has to have a leg amputated after being attacked by a shark while swimming off Freeport in the Bahamas
August 15 Police warn swimmers out of the water as up to 500 sharks swarm off Florida coast near Tampa
August 18 Three surfers attacked during competition at New Smyrna Beach on Florida's east coast
August 19 Three surfers are bitten on the leg by blacktip spinner sharks off Daytona on Florida's east coast
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