Shark attack claims Brazilian teen's life
As lifeguards approached to pull a
drowning Brazilian teenager from the water,
she suffered a second, fatal misfortune -- a
shark attack.
Bruni Gobbi, 18, and a cousin were on the
verge of drowning at Boa Viagem beach in
the northeastern Brazil city of Recife on
Monday, according to the local government's
social defense secretariat.
Lifeguards responded immediately to try to
save them, and in the midst of the rescue, a
shark attacked Gobbi's left leg, the
secretariat said.
Rescuers managed to move her to shore, and
then to a hospital, but she died later that
night, CNN affiliate Globo TV reported.
"The rescuers came in a matter of five
minutes, but to us it felt like five years,"
Gobbi's cousin, Daniele Gobbi, told Globo TV.
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Bruna Gobbi became the first woman to die
from a shark attack in the coastal state of
Pernambuco since record-keeping began in
1992, O Globo reported.
"We knew there were risks of an attack, but I
didn't think that it would happen in the
shallow (water), but in the deep," the cousin
said.
Sharks have attacked 57 people off of
Recife's coast since 1992, according to state
data. Of those, 40% of the attacks happened
at Boa Viagem beach.
"We speculate, based on the season and the
conditions, that it was a bull shark,"
Rosangela Lessa, president of the agency
that monitors shark attacks, told Globo TV.
The local government's security cameras
captured the attack and rescue on video.
A lifeguard's Jet Ski-type craft can be seen
approaching the stranded swimmers when a
sudden flurry of movement creates a splash
around Gobbi, followed by a pool of red
around her.
An autopsy will be performed, Globo TV
reported.
