Swimmer attacked by shark in Sydney Harbour
A woman bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour was likely saved by a local vet who used bandages bought earlier that day to stop the bleeding, witnesses have said.
The woman, named locally as Lauren O’Neill, was swimming off a private wharf in Elizabeth Bay on Monday evening when she was attacked.
Police in New South Wales state said the 29-year-old suffered a “serious injury” to her right leg during the attack, believed to have been carried out by a bull shark.
According to local media, she was helped by residents in the area, including Michael Porter and local vet Fiona Crago, who had just purchased a set of bandages, which she used to create a tourniquet to stem the bleeding.
The woman is believed to have been attacked by a bull shark. Pic: Khare Aoun via Storyful
“The fact she had the bandages, it’s just such a fluke,” Mr Porter told the Australian news website, news.com.au.
“So lucky. I’m not sure that she would have survived without Fiona. There was just so much blood loss.”
The incident happened about 20 metres from a jetty in Elizabeth Bay, an upmarket inner-city suburb to the east of the city’s central business district.
Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, Australia
While shark sightings along Sydney’s ocean-facing beaches are common, attacks in its iconic harbour are rare.
“Shark bites are really rare [here]… the last incident that occurred in Sydney Harbour was in 2009,” Amy Smoothey, senior shark scientist at the New South Wales department of primary industries, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Based on the bite patterns and images provided, Ms O’Neill was likely attacked by a bull shark, she said.
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 of the recorded unprovoked attacks on humans.
Sydney Harbour is known to be an important habitat for bull sharks and their young.
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 swimmer at a Sydney beach died after being attacked by what witnesses described as a large great white shark.
It was Sydney’s first fatal shark attack since 1963.
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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 AustraliaWide First Aid
However, according to the data, Australia has considerably more fatal attacks, with 22 compared to seven over the same period.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
Read more from Sky News:
Mass displacement in Gaza – people unsure where to go
Donald Trump picks vaccine sceptic as health secretary
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
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