JOHANNESBURG: A 65-year-old woman died after a shark attacked her off the coast of South Africa’s Eastern Cape province on Tuesday, ⁠SABC reported.

The woman was swimming with a group after 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) when she indicated she was ‌in trouble, a witness told the public broadcaster.

“We all realised she’d been ‌bitten by a shark, and ‌she was in a very bad ‌way,” the witness ‌said. “The bites were very severe, but there were ​only two, ‌one on ​her thigh and ⁠one on her upper arm.”

He said the woman was brought back to ​shore, ⁠where ⁠she was declared dead on the beach.

The local municipality said in a social ⁠media post there had been a shark attack in KuGompo City that resulted in a “tragic incident”.

The municipality said Orient Beach and nearby Eastern ‌Beach had been closed until further notice.

A spokesperson for ​the local municipality did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for further comment.