Police: Missing Surfer in Australia is Believed Dead in Shark Attack

A surfer rides a large wave at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
A surfer rides a large wave at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
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Police: Missing Surfer in Australia is Believed Dead in Shark Attack

A surfer rides a large wave at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
A surfer rides a large wave at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

A surfer missing in Australia is believed to have died in a shark attack, authorities said Friday, as they searched the waters where the man disappeared.
The 28-year-old was in the sea at a popular surf beach in South Australia where another man was killed by a white shark in 2023.
A witness who saw the shark attack on Thursday evening at Granites Beach, near the coastal town of Streaky Bay, rode into the sea on a jet ski and retrieved the man’s surfboard, Senior Constable Rebecca Stokes told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“But there was just no sign of this young man, there’s just been no sign of him,” Stokes told the ABC. “From witnesses’ descriptions we’re pretty confident that sadly he’s been killed by this shark.”
The beach was known to be frequented by sharks, Stokes said. She did not specify what species of shark was believed to be involved.
Emergency responders and volunteers were searching offshore on Friday for the local man and the beach was closed to the public. Police were preparing a coroner’s report, a statement said.
Shark attacks in Australia are rare, with 255 fatal bites recorded since 1791 in the country of 27 million people, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database.
But the state of South Australia has registered more episodes in the past two years than usual. There were five shark attacks of the state’s coast in 2023, three of them fatal and one at the same beach as Thursday’s incident.
Scientists at the time said they did not know the reason for the cluster. There was one non-fatal shark bite off South Australia’s coast in 2024.



Heavy Snow Brings Widespread Disruption across the UK

People walk in the snow at Sefton Park in Liverpool, Britain, 05 January 2025. (EPA)
People walk in the snow at Sefton Park in Liverpool, Britain, 05 January 2025. (EPA)
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Heavy Snow Brings Widespread Disruption across the UK

People walk in the snow at Sefton Park in Liverpool, Britain, 05 January 2025. (EPA)
People walk in the snow at Sefton Park in Liverpool, Britain, 05 January 2025. (EPA)

Heavy snow and freezing rain has brought widespread disruption across the UK, with several major airports forced to suspend flights and many key roads in the north of England unnavigable.

With the weather set to stay inclement on Sunday, there are concerns that many rural communities could be cut off with up to 40 centimeters (15 inches) of snow on ground above 300 meters (985 feet).

The National Grid, which oversees the country's electricity network, said it had been working to restore power after outages across the country. The company’s live map shows power cuts in Birmingham in central England, Bristol in the west and Cardiff in Wales.

Many sporting events have already been postponed, but the heavyweight Premier League fixture between Liverpool and Manchester United is still on, though there will be another inspection later.

Liverpool's John Lennon Airport and Manchester Airport had to close runways and divert flights, Birmingham Airport also suspended operations for several hours overnight but said it was on schedule for “business as usual” on Sunday.

The road network was heavily impacted too, on what would have been a very busy day with many families returning home from the Christmas and New Year break and students heading back to universities.

On the railways, many services were canceled with National Rail warning of disruption continuing into the working week.

Britain's main weather forecaster, the Met Office, has forecast the sleet and snow will continue to push north on Sunday and be heaviest in northern England and into southern Scotland. After experiencing freezing rain for a time, the south will turn milder.

Frost and icy patches will continue through the early part of the week, but Monday and Tuesday will become drier with sunny spells and scattered wintry showers.