Shark Attacks and Shark Attack Related Incidents News Articles on Shark Bites

Lifeguard’s remains to be buried

2010/01/18

SKELETAL remains found at Port St Johns on Christmas Day will be buried by the family who recently lost a son during a shark attack – without the necessary DNA tests being done.

Lifeguard Tshintshekile Nduva, who would have turned 28 on February 21, was attacked by a shark at Second Beach in December.
He had been employed as a lifeguard with Wild Coast Guard Lifesaving for the past three years.

Despite searches, his body was not found.

Days after the attack, fellow lifeguards found human skeletal remains just off Second Beach.

The skeleton was intact for the most part, except for an arm and the skull. Lifeguards found the arm elsewhere in the water.
It was not clear if it was, in fact, Nduva.

The remains were collected by police to conduct the necessary forensic and DNA tests to verify whether it was indeed the lifeguard.

France Nduva, the shark victim’s uncle, said the family was adamant the remains found were that of his nephew.
Apparently there was still flesh on one of the legs and marks on the foot convinced the family of his identity.

Although the family wanted to bury the remains as soon as possible, they had to wait for police to release them.
France Nduva claimed delays by the police had already resulted in them having to postpone the funeral once.
Finally, this week they demanded that the remains be handed over to them for burial.

“We have given them (police) more than enough time to run these tests; it’s not our problem if they cannot do their job,” he said.
Speaking to the Saturday Dispatch yesterday, France said the family had been waiting anxiously for the testing to be completed so that they could put their loved one to rest.

The deceased man’s mother, Mgceluza Nduva, was still too traumatised to speak.
France said his nephew would be buried at his home in Noqekwana in Port St Johns today.
He said the remains had since been released by the police to a local mortuary.
No tests had been conducted .

“Those bones have been with the police since December 25 but till today there has been no DNA test, nothing. We are going to bury our person, we know it is him,” France said.
He said that both of Nduva’ s younger and older brothers had made themselves available for blood samples, which he claimed had never been taken from them.

Yesterday, Department of Health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said forensic and DNA investigations were usually carried out by the police.
“Our (duty) is just to keep the bodies, or bones in this case, but police would have to do the forensic tests and DNA investigations,” Kupelo said.
Port St Johns police spokesperson Captain Mduduzi Godlwana yesterday could not confirm if DNA testing had been done.
He could only confirm that the skeletal remains were in possession of the police.

“Yes, the bones are with the police because no one has come to claim them.”
When the Dispatch said the Nduva family claimed they had, in fact, already fetched the remains and were in the process of finalising funeral arrangements, Godlwana said he would check.
He was not available for comment later. — By LUBABALO NGCUKANA, Mthatha Bureau, lubabalon@dispatch.co.za

http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=373363

Lifeguard attacked, killed by shark

2009/12/21
Mawande Jack HERALD CORRESPONDENT

HORRIFIED onlookers watched in shock when a lifeguard on the Wild Coast was pulled off his paddling board by a shark and killed.

Lifeguard Tshintshekile Nduva, 22, of Noqekwana village in Port St Johns, disappeared beneath the water at Second Beach, Port St Johns, at about 2.30pm on Friday during the attack, witnessed by a co-lifeguard.

Police said yesterday none of Nduva’s remains had yet been found.

Second Beach remained closed for the weekend after the attack.

National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) station commander John Costello said yesterday the swimming side of the beach had been closed and he was not sure when it would be opened to the public.

Lifeguard Abongile Maza, who was paddling a few metres behind Nduva, said yesterday the attack had been sudden and vicious, adding that the water had turned blood red.

“I could not believe what I saw with my own eyes, because it did not seem real,” he said.

Khaya Mjo Wild Coast Guards managing director said: “He was riding the waves on his knee board with another lifeguard who was riding from a distance.

“The other lifeguard said he only heard him scream, then he saw him raise a hand and there was only blood.”

Mjo has appealed for government intervention and for investigations into a spate of shark attacks at popular Port St Johns.

“Why are only lifeguards the ones being attacked while nothing happens to ordinary people. Why do these attacks happen at the same beach,” he questioned.

Costello said witnesses he spoke to saw Nduva’s hands in the air before his whole body disappeared under water and the sea turned red. He said the shark could not be identified because it was impossible to make an analysis without seeing the bite marks.

http://www.weekendpost.co.za/article.aspx?id=512264

PSJ lifeguard killed by shark


Beachgoers watched in horror yesterday when a life guard on the Wild Coast was pulled off his paddling board by a shark and mauled to death, reports Gcina Ntsaluba.

As the 22-year-old disappeared beneath the water of Port St John’s Second Beach, the ocean turned red with his blood.

His remains have yet to be found. The victim’s name has been withheld until officials inform his family.

He becomes the fourth person to die in the jaws of a shark at the same beach in two years.

Station Commander for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), John Costello, said the attack happened around mid- day.

“Witnesses I spoke to said they saw his hands in the air for a short while before his whole body disappeared under water and a red pool of blood was seen on the surface of the water. Only his knee-board washed ashore,” said Costello.

He said the sea conditions were flat with a slight swell but the water was discoloured and dirty, making conditions ideal for a shark to strike.
Costello said the shark could not be identified in yesterday’s attack because it was impossible to make an analysis without seeing the bite marks on the victim.

An eyewitness, Lindokuhle Mahanjane, 21, said there was already blood in the water when he saw a “big shark” surfacing to attack for the second time.

“After that we never saw his body again, not even his limbs,” said Mahanjane.

Another eyewitness and fellow lifeguard, Abongile Maza, who was paddling a few metres behind the victim said it was a surprise attack that has left the surfing and lifeguard community shocked.

“I could not believe what I saw with my own eyes because it did not seem real,” said Maza yesterday.

http://blogs.dispatch.co.za/dispatchnow ... -by-shark/

BEACHGOERS watched in horror yesterday as a lifeguard at the Wild Coast was pulled off his paddling board by a shark and mauled to death.**


Another shark death horror

2009/12/19
BEACHGOERS watched in horror yesterday as a lifeguard at the Wild Coast was pulled off his paddling board by a shark and mauled to death.

As the 22-year-old disappeared beneath the water of Port St Johns’ Second Beach, the ocean turned red .

His remains have yet to be found. The victim’s name has been withheld until officials inform his family.

He becomes the fourth person to die from the jaws of a shark at the same beach in two years.

Station commander for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), John Costello, said the attack happened around midday.

“Witnesses I spoke to said they saw his hands in the air for a short while before his whole body disappeared under the water and a red pool of blood was seen on the surface . Only his kneeboard washed ashore,” said Costello.

He said the sea conditions were flat with a slight swell, but the water was discoloured and dirty, making conditions ideal for a shark to strike.

Costello said the shark could not be identified in yesterday’s attack because it was impossible to make an analysis without seeing the bite marks on the victim.

An eyewitness, Lindokuhle Mahanjane, 21, said there was already blood in the water when he saw a “big shark” surfacing to attack for the second time.

“After that we never saw his body again,” said Mahanjane.

Another eyewitness and fellow lifeguard, Abongile Maza, who was paddling a few metres behind the victim said it was a surprise attack that had left the surfing and lifeguard community shocked.

“I could not believe what I saw with my own eyes because it did not seem real,” said Maza yesterday.

In April the Dispatch reported on a shark attack at Second Beach which claimed the life of 16-year-old surfer Luyolo Mangele.

He was the third person from Mthumbane township in Port St Johns to be killed by a shark at Second Beach since 2007.

The first was Masiza Sibulele, who was first bitten in 2004 and narrowly escaped death, only to be attacked again, fatally this time, in 2007.

Sibulele’s body was never found and only one of his flippers was recovered. Bite marks on the flipper suggested it was a tiger shark.

Jeremy Cliff, head of the Natal Sharks Board’s Research Unit, said at the time the Umzimvubu River flowing through the town could be blamed for the spate of attacks.

He said large estuaries and river mouths contain an abundance of fish, and this attracted the likes of Zambezi sharks.

In January, another lifeguard, Sikhanyiso Bangilizwe, was killed by a Zambezi shark at Second Beach while swimming with friends.

His body was torn to pieces.

The attacks sparked a campaign to buy new state-of-the-art shark protection devices for lifeguards in Port St Johns.

The battery-powered shields are capable of preventing a shark attack at sea when worn or attached to a buoy.

According to the distributor of the products, the shields emit electronic impulses that cover an eight-metre diameter. -

By GCINA NTSALUBA — gcinan@dispatch.co.za


http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=367894