Surfer goes missing after shark attack off Australian coast

SYDNEY: A surfer is missing after being attacked by a shark off Australia’s southwest coast on Friday, in an area notorious for great white encounters.

The surfer, believed to be a man, was attacked on Friday morning off Kelp Beds beach, near Esperance -- about a seven hour drive from Perth, local police said. A nearby surfer tried to help the man after the attack but could not pull him from the water, Western Australia premier Mark McGowan told media. "It sounds like it’s a very, very difficult and very serious situation going on there at the moment," McGowan said.