A 65-year-old woman died after a shark attacked her while she was swimming in open water at Orient Beach, in KuGompo City (formerly East London) on the south-eastern coast of South Africa's Eastern Cape province. The attack happened on Tuesday, 20 October, in the morning, while she was swimming with other members of an open-water group. Witnesses said she signalled that she was in trouble, and others in the group swam to her and brought her back to shore. Rescuers and medical staff tried to resuscitate her on the spot, but the attempts failed. Police opened an investigation, and her body was sent to forensic pathology services.
The accounts differ on the timing. The Independent said she indicated she was in trouble after 8am local time, while newsORF said police were alerted at about 7.00am. Her name has not been released, and it is to be published only after her family has been informed.
Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, which includes KuGompo City, closed Orient Beach and the neighbouring Eastern Beach until further notice. It also issued warnings for other beaches in the area and asked people not to enter the water. In a Facebook post, the municipality confirmed the incident and said:
“It has been confirmed that a shark attack occurred at Orient Beach this morning, and this resulted in a tragic incident.”
Authorities said they were on site handling the matter, and beachgoers were urged to take extreme caution. The post also asked the public to stay vigilant, follow all safety advisories and comply with instructions from the relevant authorities.
Witnesses told local media that the woman signalled she was in trouble and that two members of the group reached her first. A witness quoted by the Independent said there were only two bites, one on her thigh and one on her upper arm, but that they were very severe. A man on the shore told Il Messaggero that he saw a large fin moving at the surface. The group said on Facebook that other swimmers had spotted the tail and dorsal fin of a shark, according to newsORF. Il Messaggero also reported that she had been wearing an anti-shark bracelet, a device that experts say works only within a few centimetres or a couple of metres.
The International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida recorded 65 unprovoked attacks worldwide in 2025, up from 47 in 2024, including nine fatal ones, one of them in South Africa.
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ANSA reported that marine biologists and researchers have noted changes in shark distribution along the Eastern Cape coast, which they link to several environmental factors and pressure on marine ecosystems. The Independent recalled a fatal attack in September 2022, when the body of a woman believed to be 39 and from Cape Town was found in the water off the southern coastline. CBS News, as cited by rmf24, also recalled two fatal shark attacks in South Africa in 2022. The National Sea Rescue Institute said at the time that shark activity on the beaches was very unusual compared with previous years. TVP Info cited a study published in Science estimating that around 80 million sharks die each year from fishing, about 25 million of them from threatened species.
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Authorities closed Orient Beach and the neighbouring Eastern Beach after a shark attack on Tuesday morning, 20 October. Resuscitation attempts on the beach failed, and police opened an investigation.
AI text based on reports by newsORF.at, Bloomberg Business, The Independent and other publishers. Published .