A young New Zealand girl has been killed by a shark while swimming during a holiday in Vanuatu on an island known for such attacks.
Seven-year-old Alysha Margaret Webster was swimming off a beach with other people on Malekula Island in the north of the South Pacific island group when the attack occurred yesterday afternoon.
Alysha was on a yachting holiday with her parents, Grant and Sheree Webster, from Whitianga on New Zealand's North Island.
They had sailed to Malekula from the Vanuatu capital Port Vila.
A plane chartered today by the New Zealand high commission flew the Websters and Alysha's body back to Port Vila.
Malekula is well known for shark attacks and a number of local children have been killed over the years in similar circumstances, Port Vila Presse reported.
High commissioner Paul Willis said it was customary to check with a local chief or village to see if it was safe to swim in nearby waters.
"In this case, I understand there were local people around, so clearly the family might have had some reason to expect that it wasn't going to be too dangerous," he told Radio New Zealand.
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AdvertisementThe high commission will also assist the family with their return home.
A popular tourist destination for Australians and New Zealanders, Vanuatu is located east of Australia between New Caledonia and Fiji.
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