A 12-year-old boy who was bitten by a shark in Australia’s Sydney Harbour has died from his injuries, his family confirmed on Saturday.
The victim, Nico Antic, was attacked last week while swimming with friends in the eastern Sydney suburb of Vaucluse. The children were reportedly jumping into the water from a six-metre rock when a large shark struck.
In a statement, Antic’s parents, Lorena and Juan Antic, said their son died from injuries sustained during the attack.
“We are heartbroken to share that our son, Nico, has passed away,” they said.
Police said recent heavy rainfall had drained into the harbour, making the water murky at the time of the incident. Antic was pulled from the water with severe bleeding and taken aboard a police boat before being rushed to hospital in critical condition.
Describing their son, his parents said he was “a happy, friendly and sporty young boy with a kind and generous spirit.”
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The fatal attack was one of four shark incidents recorded in Sydney waters over a two-day period, prompting authorities to close several beaches across the city. It marked the third recent shark-related death in the Sydney area.
In September, a surfer, Mercury Psillakis, was killed by a great white shark at a popular northern Sydney beach. Two months later, a woman was killed by a bull shark while swimming off a remote beach north of the city.
Australian marine scientists have linked the rise in shark encounters to increasingly crowded coastal waters and warming ocean temperatures, which are believed to be altering sharks’ migratory patterns.