Tourist Dead After Being Attacked By 8-Foot Tiger Shark Off Caribbean Island

A tourist in the Colombian island of San Andres was killed on Friday, March 18, in a violent and disturbing killing that appears to have shocked many of the residents of the area due to its bloody and graphic imagery.

Fifty-six-year-old Antonio Roseto Degli Abruzzi, who was swimming in the popular tourist spot of La Piscinita in the island of San Andres, was killed when an 8-foot shark bit into his thigh, causing him to bleed out and die by the time he got into the hospital, according to the Evening Standard.

Abruzzi was reportedly saved by local resident Mauricio Valdonado, who risked his own life to ensure that the man was taken to shore. Photographs of Abruzzi lying on the beach as his wound continued to bleed were posted online on social media to the fascination and fear of many.

“We are all very surprised. It’s the first time a shark has attacked a tourist in San Andres,” 50-year-old diving instructor Mirla Zambrano said.

The island’s local government agreed with the assessment: “There are diving [programs] with professionals in which sharks pass nearby, but nothing has ever happened.”

As the incident continued to take hold of the fearful imagination of many people on the island, marine biologist Rodrigo Lopez relayed the worries of many people regarding the person’s death and how it may affect the local lives of the people, the New York Post reported.

“People are very worried about what’s happened and they’re not letting people go into the water,” Rodrigo Lopez said. “A witness said the man who was attacked was a good swimmer and had been in the sea for quite a while and when he went further out a second time after coming back towards the shore, began to shout out for help and was surrounded by blood.”

The tiger shark who reportedly bit Abruzzi was thought to be seen by locals circling and swimming near the area where he was bitten. It is unclear as of press time if authorities in the area are planning anything in regards to capturing and killing said sharks.