A hero dived into the water, risking his own life, to try and save a 16-year-old girl who was being mauled by a shark.
The teenager, who has not been named, was reportedly jet skiing with her friends when they spotted a pod of dolphins.
They dived into the Swan River, in North Fremantle, Western Australia, to swim with the dolphins at about 3.30pm Saturday, local time.
But the dream day turned into a nightmare when she was brutally attacked by a shark, and her friends could only watch the mauling in horror.
Witnesses told police that one man bravely dived into the water during the shark attack and managed to pull the teen out.
Despite his heroics, reported by The Mail, paramedics were unable to save the young girl’s life, said Paul Robinson, police acting inspector for the Fremantle district.
One local, who saw the horror attack by what was reportedly a bull shark, said she heard people screaming before the man jumped in.
The girl’s family and friends were seen in a state of shock as they walked near the river after the attack.
Emergency services, including police boats, flooded the area and the girl suffered severe leg injuries.
The attack is the first deadly shark attack in the area in nearly a century.
Robinson told reporters during a news conference: "It's very early on, what we're being advised is that she was with friends on the river.
"They were on jetskis. Possibly a pod of dolphins were being seen nearby and the young female jumped in to swim nearby the dolphins."
He described the incident as "very, very traumatic" and said the girl's family, from Perth, were "absolutely devastated by the news".
Robinson added: "It’s an extremely traumatic event for everyone involved and everyone who knew the young girl, so I won’t be going into the extent of the injuries.
"It is unusual for a shark to be that far down the river … at this point in time an alert has been put out, a shark warning just to let people know this incident has taken place."
One teen was with a group of friends, jumping off the old Fremantle traffic bridge rope swing when they noticed a jetski and nearby swimmers rushing to shore.
Joshua, 16, told WAToday: "There were about seven of us and we were on the rope swing for around an hour or two.
"We saw the dolphins, there were dolphins there. When all the police came by we thought we were in trouble."
Joshua said the police went past the group but did not say anything to them.
He added: "They looked at us and they didn’t tell us about it which is kind of worrying as after this had happened we were still jumping off the rope swim.
"Another person then came over on a jetski and told us to get out of the water.
"We were so grateful that it wasn’t one of us, of course, we’re so sorry for what happened and for the family involved."
The only confirmed fatal shark attack in the Swan River was on January 31, 1923.
Charles Robinson, a 13-year-old schoolboy, was killed after he was mauled swimming just six metres from shore near his school’s boat shed.
