A 19-year-old New Zealand woman dies after a shark attack suspect

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According to local police, the woman was injured while in the waters of Waihī beach late Thursday afternoon and died shortly afterwards.

Kaelah Marlow, 19, died in a suspected shark attack on Thursday, according to New Zealand police.

Police in New Zealand on Friday identified the woman as 19-year-old Kaelah Marlow from Hamilton, about 391 kilometers from the capital Wellington.

“Initial indications suggest she may have been injured by a shark,” New Zealand police said in a news 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 on Waihī beach yesterday and we offer victim assistance services to anyone who requests it,” police added.

People walk along a beach following a suspected shark attack in Bowentown near Waihī, New Zealand, January 8, 2021.
Attacks on sharks in New Zealand are rare. The last fatal shark attack took place in 2013, when a 40-year-old swimmer was killed offshore near the popular Muriwai beach, west of Auckland.

A non-fatal shark attack last took place in 2018, according to the New Zealand police website. A man was attacked by a shark and taken to hospital for treatment.

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