Connect with us

Published

on

A woman attacked by a shark in Sydney Harbour has praised the “heroic” neighbours who came to her aid.

Lauren O’Neill was swimming close to the shore near her home in Elizabeth Bay when her leg was bitten by one of the creatures on Monday evening.

The 29-year-old was helped by residents in the area – including a local vet who had just purchased a set of bandages, which she used to create a tourniquet to stem the bleeding.

Surgeons worked through the night to save Ms O’Neill’s leg from amputation, according to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.

She is expected to make a full recovery.

In a statement, released through the hospital where she is being treated, Ms O’Neill thanked her “heroic and very kind neighbours for the critical assistance they provided her”.

She added that her likely recovery was a “testament to their extraordinary skills”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Woman injured in Sydney shark attack

Police in New South Wales said Ms O’Neill suffered a “serious injury” to her right leg during the attack, which is believed to have been carried out by a bull shark.

The incident happened about 20 metres from a jetty in Elizabeth Bay, an upmarket inner-city suburb near the iconic Sydney Opera House and the city’s central business district.

Shark sightings along Sydney’s ocean-facing beaches are common, and the harbour is known to be an important habitat for bull sharks and their young.

However, shark scientist Amy Smoothey said attacks in the area were “really rare”.

“The last incident that occurred in Sydney Harbour was in 2009,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, Australia.
Image:
Elizabeth Bay, Sydney

Known for their aggressive, territorial nature, bull sharks are large and usually found in warm, shallow waters, but can survive in fresh waters and are known to swim up rivers.

Bull sharks, great whites, and tiger sharks are responsible for most recorded unprovoked attacks on humans.

Bull shark in Australia
Image:
Experts believe a bull shark was behind the attack. File pic: iStock

Read more from Sky News:
Four drown in ‘horrific’ tragedy on Australian beach
Award-winning teen surfer killed in shark attack

In 2009, an Australian navy clearance diver was mauled by a bull shark during a training exercise in the harbour. The shark tore off his arm and part of his leg.

In February 2022, a 35-year-old British expat was fatally mauled by a shark while swimming off the coast of Sydney.

It was Sydney’s first fatal shark attack since 1963.

Despite its 16,000 miles of coastline and famous beach culture, there are more unprovoked shark attacks reported in the US than in Australia.

There were 455 recorded attacks in the US, compared with 161 in Australia, between 2011 and 2020, according to data from Australia Wide First Aid.

However, it said Australia has considerably more fatal attacks, with 22 compared to seven during the same period.

Continue Reading

World

Two dead and a million evacuated as Super Typhoon Fung-wong hits Philippines

Published

on

By

Two dead and a million evacuated as Super Typhoon Fung-wong hits Philippines

Two people have died and more than one million people evacuated after a storm bearing down on the Philippines intensified into a super typhoon and made landfall on Sunday.

Fung-wong started battering eastern and central parts of the country, causing power outages, and forcing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to declare a state of emergency.

One person drowned in Catanduanes and firefighters recovered the body of a woman trapped under the debris of a collapsed home in Catbalogan City, officials said.

A satellite image shows Storm Fung-wong, which has intensified into a super typhoon. Pic: CSU/CIRA & JMA/JAXA/Handout via Reuters
Image:
A satellite image shows Storm Fung-wong, which has intensified into a super typhoon. Pic: CSU/CIRA & JMA/JAXA/Handout via Reuters

A man walks in the rain with an umbrella as Typhoon Fung-wong approaches, in Cauayan, Isabela, Philippines. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A man walks in the rain with an umbrella as Typhoon Fung-wong approaches, in Cauayan, Isabela, Philippines. Pic: Reuters

Evacuations under way in Quezon province. Pic: Philippine Coast Guard via AP
Image:
Evacuations under way in Quezon province. Pic: Philippine Coast Guard via AP

An evacuation centre in Manila. Pic: Reuters
Image:
An evacuation centre in Manila. Pic: Reuters

Packing sustained winds of 115mph and gusts of up to 140mph, Super Typhoon Fung-wong made landfall in Aurora province in central Luzon.

Those living in high-risk villages in northeastern provinces were told to evacuate, including in Bicol, a coastal region vulnerable to Pacific cyclones and mudflows from Mayon, one of the country’s most active volcanoes.

Defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr warned Fung-wong could affect a vast expanse of the country, including the capital Manila, and Cebu, the central province hit hardest by the deadly Typhoon Kalmaegi just days ago.

More than 200 people were killed in the earlier typhoon, and around 100 are still missing.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Filipinos stranded on roofs amid Typhoon floods

Mr Teodoro Jr urged residents to heed evacuation orders, warning refusing to comply was dangerous and unlawful.

“We ask people to pre-emptively evacuate so that we don’t end up having to conduct rescues at the last minute, which could put the lives of police, soldiers, firefighters and coast guard personnel at risk,” he said in a public address.

More than 30 million people could be exposed to hazards posed by Fung-wong, the Office of Civil Defence said.

The projection of the route that will be taken by Super Typhoon Fung-wong by Japan's national weather agency. Pic: JMA
Image:
The projection of the route that will be taken by Super Typhoon Fung-wong by Japan’s national weather agency. Pic: JMA

In Isabela in northern Luzon, dozens of families were sheltering at a basketball court repurposed as an evacuation centre.

“We’re scared,” said Christopher Sanchez, 50, who fled his home with his family. “We’re here with our grandchildren and our kids. The whole family is in the evacuation area.”

Nearly 400 domestic and international flights have been cancelled, according to the civil aviation regulator.

Read more from Sky News:
Ghislaine Maxwell’s emails from jail leaked
The Amazonians who don’t care who Trump is

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Deadly tornado tears through southern Brazil

Deadly tornado in Brazil

Meanwhile, a powerful tornado ripped through the southern state of Parana in Brazil – killing at least six and injuring more than 750 people, state officials said on Saturday.

The tornado left a trail of destruction, downing trees, overturning vehicles and damaging buildings.

Roads were also blocked and power lines damaged, with authorities saying around 1,000 people were displaced,

“We will continue to assist the people of Parana and provide all the help needed,” President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrote on X.

Continue Reading

World

UK deploying specialist RAF team to defend Belgium from ‘rogue’ drones

Published

on

By

UK deploying specialist RAF team to defend Belgium from 'rogue' drones

The UK is deploying a specialist Royal Air Force team to help defend Belgium’s skies following a series of sightings of “rogue” drones, the defence secretary and his military chief have revealed.

The ground-based unit will be equipped with kit that can track and take down unmanned aerial systems.

It is not yet clear who is responsible for the drone incursions, which forced the country’s main airport near Brussels to close temporarily and have also impacted Belgian military bases.

However, there are suspicions that they could be linked to Russia.

Other NATO nations have also experienced similar problems, including Denmark and Germany.

Ukraine war latest: Lavrov ‘ready’ to meet US’s Rubio

Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, said his Belgian counterpart had called him to request British support.

Queen Camilla looks at counter-drone equipment during a visit to RAF Leeming, Northallerton, in September 2024. Pic: PA
Image:
Queen Camilla looks at counter-drone equipment during a visit to RAF Leeming, Northallerton, in September 2024. Pic: PA

“I had my Belgian opposite number – the chief of the defence staff – in touch with me this week, seeking our help to track and potentially defeat the drones,” he said.

“We agreed with the defence secretary on Friday that we would send our people and our equipment into Belgium to help them with the current problem they have got there.”

Read more from Sky News:
Ghislaine Maxwell’s emails from minimum-security jail leaked
Southport victims ‘failed at every possible turn’

Queen Camilla, who is an honorary air commodore, inspects counter-drone equipment. Pic: PA
Image:
Queen Camilla, who is an honorary air commodore, inspects counter-drone equipment. Pic: PA

John Healey, the defence secretary, said: “When our NATO allies call, we step up. Belgium requested urgent support to counter rogue drone activity at their military bases, so I’ve directed a small team of RAF specialists to deploy immediately.

“As hybrid threats grow, our strength lies in our alliances and our collective resolve to defend, deter and protect our critical infrastructure and airspace.”

The RAF team is trained and equipped to combat drones.

Continue Reading

World

Three dead and 15 injured in Tenerife tidal surge

Published

on

By

Three dead and 15 injured in Tenerife tidal surge

Three people have died after they were swept into the sea off the coast of Tenerife during treacherous weather, officials said on Sunday.

Strong waves pulled them into the Atlantic Ocean during a tidal surge on Saturday.

A man who had fallen into the water at Charco del Viento, a rocky beauty spot in the north of the island not far from Icod de los Vinos, was airlifted to hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival, Spanish media reported.

In a separate incident, a man was found floating off Cabezo beach in El Medano in the south of the island.

Lifeguards and paramedics were unable to resuscitate him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A woman suffered a heart attack and died when a wave swept several people into the sea at Puerto de la Cruz in northern Tenerife. Three people were seriously injured and taken to hospital for treatment.

The victim was a 79-year-old Dutch woman, according to El Dia.

The Spanish newspaper reported the deceased at Charco del Viento was a 43-year-old man from La Orotava, a town in northern Tenerife, while the identity of the man who died at Cabezo beach had not been released.

Around 15 people were injured in four different incidents along the coast of the island of Tenerife on Saturday, according to emergency services.

Read more from Sky News:
Super Typhoon Fung-wong hits Philippines
Ghislaine Maxwell’s emails from jail leaked
The Amazonians who don’t care who Trump is

Authorities had warned people of a tidal surge and strong winds, advising them not to walk along coastal paths and avoid putting themselves at risk by taking photos and videos of the rough seas.

The Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the west coast of Africa that includes Tenerife, are on alert for coastal hazards, officials said.

Continue Reading

Trending