Spanish court opens investigation into fatal shark attack off Canary Islands

The Spanish sea rescue service, the Salvamento Marítimo, attended the scene of the attack. Photograph: Antonio Siwiak/Alamy

A court in Spain has opened an investigation into the death of a German woman who died after being attacked by a shark while sailing 270 nautical miles (500km) off the Canary Islands on Tuesday.

According to the country’s maritime rescue service, Salvamento Marítimo, the 30-year-old woman was travelling on the British-flagged catamaran Dalliance Chichester about 110 miles west of the Western Saharan city of Dakhla when the attack happened just before 4pm local time.