/ 15 November 2004

Huge great white shark ‘came up and grabbed her’

The National Sea Rescue Institute said on Monday that an elderly swimmer had been reported missing after a ”huge” great white shark was spotted at Fish Hoek near Cape Town on Monday morning.

NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said a full-scale search was under way for the elderly woman.

Lambinon said a shark had been spotted in the vicinity of Clovelly, near Fish Hoek.

”The shark is bigger than the helicopter… it is huge,” he said.

Lambinon said the woman had been identified, but her name would not be released until her next of kin had been informed.

False Bay Yacht Club commodore Paul Bennet, told rescue personnel the shark ”came up and grabbed her, circled and grabbed her again” before she disappeared.

The last shark attack in the same vicinity was in April this year when a 16-year-old surfer was attacked off Muizenberg beach. – Sapa