A surfer died following a suspected shark attack in Hawaii, according to authorities.
The Maui Police Department identified the victim in Saturday’s incident as 39-year-old Jason Carter.
Police responded to a beach area in Maui’s Paia Bay around 11.20am. Ocean safety officers at the scene transported Mr Carter to the shore after he suffered injuries during a “shark encounter.”
“Once onshore, life-saving measures were performed by first responder personnel until medic personnel arrived to transport the male to the Maui Memorial Medical Center for further treatment,” the law enforcement agency said in a statement.
Carter was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
A bystander who witnessed the tragedy recounted the horrific attack and compared the size of the shark to that of a pickup truck in an interview with NBC.
“The shark just started biting him and pulling him down,” the witness told the network. “The dorsal fin was almost as big as his [Carter’s] body, the height of it was almost as high as his head sitting on the board. It was hard to hear him screaming.”
Baldwin Beach Park and Lower Pā’ia Park were closed following the shark incident as responders patrolled the area on shore and on jet skies.
An investigation into Carter’s death is underway but authorities said that foul play was not suspected.
Eight shark encounters were reported in Hawaii in 2023, per NBC, but Saturday’s attack was the first fatality.
