Shark attack kills Australian man

An Australian man has died after being attacked by a shark off the southwestern coast of the country.

The 31-year-old was attacked while surfing alone at a beach near Gracetown, about 175 miles south of the Western Australia state capital of Perth.

A police spokesman said that the man received life-threatening injuries and died later at Margaret River Hospital.

Witness Rob Alder said that he and another person pulled the victim from the water and tried to resuscitate him.

"It looked like it was a fairly severe bite. I would imagine that it was a shark that mistook him for a seal," Alder said.

An official from the state Department of Fisheries, said officers would try to determine if the shark was still in the area, what species it was and whether it posed a risk.

Great white sharks are common off that part of the coast.

In 2004, another local surfer died after a shark attack in the same area.