Bruni Gobbi, 18, was drowning off of the coast of Brazil when she was attacked by a shark.
According to CNN , lifeguards were rushing to Gobbi and her cousin’s aide off the coast of Boa Viagem Beach in Recife on Monday. They were able to pull Gobbi’s cousin, Daniele Gobbi, from the water but before they reached Bruni she was attacked by a shark.
Daniele Gobbi said: “The rescuers came in a matter of five minutes, but to us it felt like five years.”
Lifeguards were able to pull Bruni from the water but not before she was bitten on the leg by the shark. Bruni was rushed to a hospital, where she had her leg amputated, but died later that night.
Sky News reports that there were signs at the beach warning swimmers about previous shark attacks. Daniele said that she saw the signs but didn’t believe that a shark attack would occur in shallow water.
Daniele said: “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.”
Gobbi is the first woman to die from a shark attack at the beach since 1992. Since that time, there have been 57 recorded shark attacks off the coast of Recife. Nearly half of those occurred at Boa Viagem Beach.
A video of the shark attack in Brazil was captured by a security camera. The video contains graphic images and may not be suitable for all viewers.
Rosangela Lessa, a shark expert in the area, said: “We speculate, based on the season and the conditions, that it was a bull shark.”