RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A man died after being attacked by a shark at Piedade beach in Jaboatão dos Guararapes, state of Pernambuco, this Saturday afternoon.
Marcelo Rocha Santos, 51, was taken to the Hospital da Restauração, in the center of Recife, but did not survive his wounds – an amputated right hand and a deep wound in his thigh.
The captain of the Fire Department, Joel Fernandes, who participated in the action, told the Jornal do Commercio that the victim was playing soccer when he decided to enter the water to remove the sand from his body. He even screamed that he was being attacked by the animal.
“They were having a get-together, playing soccer, and then he alone went [into the water] to remove the sand from his body and had the water below his waistline. He wasn’t at the bottom when he was bitten, he screamed, yelling that he was suffering a shark attack. That’s when the lifeguards from Station 10 came down, pulled him out of the water, and gave him the first aid,” Fernandes said.
According to the State Monitoring Committee, 62 shark attacks have been registered on the beaches of Pernambuco since 1992. In 25 cases, the victim died.