An Australian woman diver was killed after being attacked by a large shark on Sunday, the second such fatality in less than a week off the Western Australian coast.

The 60-year-old woman was with her 43-year-old male diving partner in a dive spot off the Mindarie coast, about 40 km north of Perth, when she was attacked by a shark suspected to be more than five metres long.

“Approximately two kilometres off the mariner here behind me in Mindarie, between the one mile and three mile reefs, a man and woman were diving when the woman was taken by, or appears to have been taken, by a shark,” Police Inspector Danny Mulligan said.

Three fishermen rescued the male diver and retrieved the woman’s body.

“The other boat that was in the water was five-and-a-half metres long, and they say that the shark was longer than their boat,” Mulligan added.

The incident followed the death on Friday of Australian surfer Ben Gerring.

The 29-year-old was surfing south of Perth last Tuesday when he had his right leg bitten off by a suspected great white great shark measuring at least three metres.

– Reuters