A man has died after being attacked by a shark off the coast of a remote island to the east of New Zealand.
Jade Kahukore-Dixon had been diving off a boat in the Bay of Waitangi, near Chatham Island, when he was injured by the shark, local media reports said.
He was rushed to Chatham Island Hospital but died on Tuesday.
Mr Kahukore-Dixon was a commercial diver who lived on the Chatham Islands and harvested paua, a type of sea slug with a colourful shell, and kina, a type of edible sea urchin, Stuff reported.
His father Jacky Dixon told the New Zealand news outlet he believed he had been killed by a great white shark.
His son was a “very tough, young fella” who “loved fishing and diving” from a young age, he added.
“He would do anything to protect his family. He was an amazing boy, a very much loved member of the family,” he said.
Mr Dixon added that his son wasn’t afraid of great white sharks and would see them often while diving.
The young man had a close call when diving previously, having got his foot stuck under a rock, until a concerned friend sought him out and freed him, the New Zealand outlet said.
Mr Kahukore-Dixon was said to have played rugby when he was younger, reportedly being listed as one of the outstanding young players in the Chatham Islands rugby squad.
New Zealand police said officers were called to the incident around midday (11pm Monday UK time) and that the death will be referred to the coroner.
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Chatham Islands mayor Monique Croon reportedly said the attack had rocked the island community.
“I flew off the island this morning but many in our community are divers, so everybody is in shock,” she told Newstalkzb.
Chatham Islands lie around 800km east of New Zealand’s South Island and consist of ten islands within a 60km radius, inhabited by almost 800 people.
