The heart-breaking incident was caught by local CCTV cameras, and shows the moment Bruna Gobbi is targeted by a shark in waist -deep waters.
The 18-year-old from San Paolo, who was on a family holiday in Recife, was spending a day at the beach with her mother, grandfather and cousins when the attack took place on Monday.
Bruna can be seen swimming close to shore with her cousin Danielle Gobbi, when she is pulled under water by a shark, creating a massive splash followed by a pool of blood.
As she struggles to stay above water, having lost a large part of her lower leg, a lifeguard is captured speeding over to Bruna, while two lifeguards and her cousin swim out to help her.
Although they managed to drag her back to shore to give her treatment, she later died in hospital whilst having her leg amputated, having lost a large amount of blood.
Speaking to Globo TV, her devastated cousin said:
‘The rescuers came in a matter of five minutes but to us it felt like five years.’
The beaches in the areas display signs warning swimmers of past shark attacks, and the TV station reported that Bruna was aware of the dangers.
Statistics show that there have been 21 shark attacks in Boa Viagem – ten of them fatal –since 1992, and Bruna is thought to be the first woman to be killed since records began.
Rosangela Lessa of the shark attack agency said: ‘We speculate, based on the season and the conditions, that it was a bull shark.’
Closer spoke to shark expert Lynsey Thomposn, who confirmed that bull sharks are generally the most likely breed to attack humans.
Here are her shark facts:
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Bull sharks frequently swim down river from fresh water into seawater
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They favour water that is a mix of salt and seawater, which is usually closer to shore
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They raise their young in nurseries close to shore
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They are amongst the most territorial breed of shark over their breeding grounds
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The majority of shark attacks are cases of mistaken identity where sharks mistake the body shape of a human for that of a seal or turtle- hence why they take a bite before swimming off
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We kill around 10 million sharks a year compared to 10 annual human shark attack fatalities
Warning: Graphic content