One man was killed in a shark attack west ofAucklandinNew Zealandon Wednesday morning.

Witnesses alerted emergency services when they saw the man being attacked by the shark.

"The shark was still attacking him and then the shark stopped the attacking, he put his head up. We yelled out at him to swim over to the rock and he raised his hand up. While he raised his hand up, next minute he went down, shark pulled him down. He came up with his head under water and then we know he is dead," fishermanPio Mosietold the local television network TVNZ.

Paramedic Russell Clarke was on board the rescue helicopter that arrived at Muriwai beach shortly after the emergency call came through.

"The police managed to distract the shark while we extracted the person from the water, so with the use of the local Muriwai surf club and some distracting noise from the helicopter we managed to get the body into the surf boat and to shore," Clarke told TVNZ.

Police said they fired several bullets at the shark but were not sure whether they actually hit it.

Members of the victim's family gathered at the Muriwai surf club where they were talking to police.

Helicopters will continue patrolling the area and Muriwai and its neighbouring beaches will remain closed, local media said.

Presented by Adam Justice

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/439974/20130227/new-zealand-shark-attack-adam-strange-filmmaker.htm