Fatal Double Shark Attack Reported

Authorities have not yet confirmed 2 sharks were involved
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 8, 2021 1:34 AM CST
Swimmer Reportedly Killed in Double Shark Attack
An Australia beach.   (Getty Images / ake1150sb)

A father of two was killed while swimming in Australia on Saturday morning when he was attacked by at least one, but possibly two, sharks at Port Beach, North Fremantle, off the coast of Western Australia. Paul Millachip, 57, who lived in Perth after having moved from London, is believed to have been attacked by a 14-foot-long great white shark, the Telegraph reports. Onlookers said he also appeared to have been attacked by a tiger shark, but authorities have not yet confirmed that.

Millachip, a strong swimmer and Ironman triathlete who was a regular at the beach, was there with his two adult children as well as his wife, who was in the changing rooms when the attack took place. "He died what he enjoyed doing the most," his wife says, per CNN. Land, air, and sea patrols conducted a search for him, but it was called off Sunday after only a pair of goggles believed to have been his were retrieved. They are being tested. The beach was closed after the attack, but reopened Monday.

Authorities tell ABC.net four teenage boys in a dinghy near where Millachip was swimming are heroes for their reaction to witnessing the attack. "They have been really, really helpful. They have done a great job of alerting other people on the beach and other swimmers," one acting inspector says. Adds another, "I can say that the actions of the witnesses were heroic and very brave for getting everyone else in the water out of the water and notifying everyone of what was happening." (More shark attack stories.)

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