A 20-foot great white shark has claimed the life of a 76-year-old woman at a South African beach near Cape Town, Sky News reported Monday.
Several witnesses said they saw the massive shark strike.
"The shark came out of the water and attacked, came around and attacked again a second time and then a third time," said National Sea Rescue Institute spokesman Craig Lambinon. "It was thrashing her body in the water and then swam off with her.
The woman had been visiting the same beach every day for the last 17 years, aware that great whites were often nearby, the report said. A great white killed a surfer in the area in September 2003, and a teenager lost his leg in an attack in earlier this year.
Authorities called off the search for her body soon after a rescue helicopter reported seeing the shark. Area beaches were ordered closed indefinitely.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
