ATTACKED BY SHARK.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20612, 10 January 1929, Page 10

ATTACKED BY SHARK.

FIJIAN DIVER’S EXPERIENCE.

ARMS HORRIBLY MUTILATED

'(Special to Daily Times.)

AUCKLAND, January 9. “At least one Fijian, a well-known diver named Laitia, will have sad cause to remember New Year’s Day," writes the Suva correspondent of the Herald. He was the central figure in a thrilling struggle with a bloodthirsty shark that took place at Suva within a few feet from the, side of the steamer Moeraki as she lay at King’s wharf in readiness to sail for Sydney. Laitia, who belongs to Suvnvou, a native village near Suva, has made a practice of visiting all the ships, and, as usual, was entertaining what happened "to - be a record number of passengers on the Moeraki ou New Year’s Day. With several others he had been diving all morning. Suddenly a passenger flung a sixpence far out from the side of the ship and many feet beyond where the other coins had fallen. Undaunted and unsuspecting, Laitia dived after it,’and the watching crowd waited interested to see if it would elude him and sink to the bottom. He appeared to be having difficulty, as a commotion was observed several feet under the water, but the crowd suspected nothing! Then the Fijian came to the surface, and with him a.-14-foot grey shark, grasping firmly in its jaws one of his arms. The terrorstricken crowd saw Laitia fight wildly with his free arm,' hitting at the monster and shrieking for help. The water closed oyer the pair as the shark pulled its victim down. _ What appeared to be an age later Laitia came to the surface, this time alone. A second Fijian dived from a canoe which had rushed to the spot and attempted to assist him into it. Then a fresh horror swept the crowd. They had seen, a B the diver fought the monster, bow one arm was being terribly mutilated. Now they saw the two arms stripped clean of flesh from elbow to wrist, leaving bare bones exposed and ribbons of skin and flesh hanging from the wrists. But for ugly gashes, both the hands were left almost whole. Another shriek from the Buffering victim showed that the shark had not given up his prey, and it was feared that a |eg had gone. At last the Fijian was handed into the canoe, and it was then seen that the shark had bitten savagely into the fleshy part of the man’s leg. Frightened by the other Fijians the monster made off. Instructions were shouted, in Fijian to the natives in ■ the canoe to apply tourniquets on both the bleeding arms. Solus were torn up aud used. The wonderful stamina of the Fijian was well demonstrated. For some minutes he sat up in the canoe looking at bis arras, then he fell back-in a faint. He was rushed to the hospital, where both arms were amputated. Dr Harper said that Laitia’s condition was still very serious, and that lie was out of danger. Amputation, he said, had been necessary, ac all the flesh had been torn away on the lower arms, leaving the bones and the hands entirely without circulation. Although Fijian divers have been for many years entertaining travellers on ships calling at Suva by diving for coins, this is the first misadventure of the kind that Ims occurred. '