New Zealand woman, 19, dies after suspected shark attack

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According to local police, the woman was injured in the waters off Waihī Beach late Thursday night and died shortly afterwards.

New Zealand police say Kaelah Marlow, 19, died in a suspected shark attack Thursday.

New Zealand police on Friday identified the woman as 19-year-old Kaelah Marlow from the city of Hamilton, about 391 kilometers (243 miles) from the capital, Wellington.

“Early indications suggest she may have been injured by a shark,” New Zealand police said in a press release on Thursday.

Police said the coroner will eventually release the cause of Marlow’s death.

“We appreciate that her death was extremely traumatic for those who were at Waihī Beach yesterday and we provide Victim Support to anyone who needs it,” police added.

People walk near a beach after a suspected shark attack in Bowentown near Waihī, New Zealand, January 8, 2021.
Shark attacks in New Zealand are rare. The last deadly shark attack occurred in 2013, when a swimmer in his forties was killed off the coast, near the popular Muriwai Beach, west of Auckland.

According to the New Zealand Police website, a non-lethal shark attack last took place in 2018. A man was attacked by a shark and flown to a hospital for treatment.

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