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Sarah Whiley was attacked by as many as three sharks. She screamed for help but beach-goers mistook her frantic calls for help as a prank.

harks savaged Sarah Whiley, 21, tearing off both her arms and badly mauling her torso and legs.

Miss Whiley, who was swimming at Stradbroke Island with three friends from a church group on Saturday evening, had shouted "Shark!". But her friends on the beach ignored her screams.

"She went down in the water," said Peter Harding, a police inspector. "After about five or six seconds the deceased came out of the water and screamed 'Shark!'. Of course, people at the time thought she was only joking - until they saw the blood."

Miss Whiley was pulled from the water by two local fishermen and dragged on to the beach.

A local teenage girl, who tried to comfort the injured woman while she lay on the beach, said Miss Whiley was still conscious at that time. "She kept on saying that she was going to die," said the girl, whose mother asked for her name to be withheld.

Tourist beaches on the eastern coast of Australian were closed yesterday as police divers hunted for the sharks responsible for the attack. They were hoping to retrieve the dead swimmer's missing limbs - although they admit that this is a remote possibility.

They also hope to confirm the type of shark, and number, involved in the attack, which occurred in chest-high water at a popular swimming beach.

By a grim coincidence, the attack took place off Amity Beach - the same name as the fictional island setting of the Hollywood shark horror film Jaws.

The Queensland state government yesterday ordered an investigation into the incident. Amity Point, where the attack occurred, is protected by shark nets and drumlines - large baited hooks anchored to the seabed - which should keep swimmers safe.

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Shark Attacks Australia , popular places, Shark Attack

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swimming , death , scary , shark , shark attack , fatal shark attack