Elisabeth Sauer, a 68-year-old woman who had been a councilor in Kramsach, Austria between 1998 and 2004, went into the water “just for a while”, she told her husband on Friday. She was still in shallow water when she was suddenly attacked by a shortfin mako shark.
There were several eyewitnesses to the attack, but none of those present jumped into the water to help the woman. Her struggle was filmed – although the images are too gruesome to show. “We saw people running out of the sea in panic,” said a Russian witness. “We saw the shark grab her and turn her around. The animal had bitten off her arm, up to the elbow.”
Died in ambulance
“The woman first tried to hold off the shark with her hands,” said another eyewitness. “But in vain. The animal could also bite off a leg after her arm. The woman was clearly in shock. She didn’t even scream, she didn’t cry. Nothing.”
The woman eventually made it back to the beach, but died in the ambulance on the way to hospital from her injuries.
After Friday’s shark attack, swimming in the area was banned for three days.