A 65-year-old woman has died after a shark attack at Orient Beach in KuGompo City, formerly known as East London, on South Africa’s southeastern coast.
Police were called at about 7am local time on Tuesday and found the woman’s body with what they described as “open wounds”.
Local media reported that she was a regular swimmer and had been in the water with a group when the attack happened. A local community group said other swimmers had seen a shark’s tail and fin.
The woman suffered severe injuries to the right side of her arm and leg, according to the group. One witness told SABC: “We all realized she’d been bitten by a shark, and she was in a very bad way. The bites were very severe, but there were only two, one on her thigh and one on her upper arm.”
The municipality closed nearby beaches after the incident and urged people to stay out of the water.
“It has been confirmed that a shark attack occurred at Orient Beach this morning, and this resulted in a tragic incident,” the local municipality said in a statement.
Fatal shark attacks are uncommon worldwide, although South Africa has experienced deadly encounters along its coastline. The incident follows the death of a man who was killed by a shark while swimming off the coast of Western Australia about a month ago.
There were 65 unprovoked shark bites worldwide in 2025, including nine fatalities, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File. South Africa recorded one unprovoked attack that year, which was fatal.
Researchers say shark encounters can be influenced by factors including growing coastal populations, increased use of marine waters, environmental changes and shifts in the distribution of sharks and their prey.
