17 year old girl killed by shark at Bribie Island, north of Brisbane

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The teenage victim of a fatal shark attack north of Brisbane has been identified. 17-year-old Charlize Zmuda was attacked off the coast of Bribie Island yesterday afternoon.

Transcript

00:00A tragic, tragic event that's unfolded here at Warram Beach, which is on Bribie Island

00:07and it's about an hour north of Brisbane. In the early hours of this morning we saw

00:10family and friends of Charlize Zmuda gather here and really pay tribute as the sun rose

00:17and just mourn the loss of their 17-year-old. A wonderful person, according to the family,

00:22they've provided a statement to the ABC and said not only was she a shining light, she

00:26was also just gifted musically and talented and also, furthermore, she was one of those

00:32young Bribie Nippers who was training under 9's Bribie Nippers as well and was a competent

00:38surf lifesaver here in Queensland. So it's something that many of them have said is just

00:43completely tragic and this, in fact, was her favourite beach. Her family have said that

00:48she swam here every single day. So there's been dozens of floral tributes that have already

00:53been laid here at the beach, but it all unfolded really yesterday afternoon just before 5 o'clock

00:58when emergency services were called out here to report that a young teenage swimmer had

01:02been injured and when they arrived, the paramedics treated the 17-year-old for life-threatening

01:08wounds to her upper body and unfortunately they were unable to save her. Now, this beach

01:13does remain closed off and Queensland Surf Lifesaving have said that she was swimming

01:17in a part of the beach which was unpatrolled. It is an incredible stretch going from the

01:22north part of the island to the south. So many locals have said that they often swim

01:27here and often walk along the beach, so it's something that really hits close to home.

01:31We gathered together and we just did some remembering and a prayer and then in our own

01:40time just set the flowers afloat and contemplated life. We are really conscious of her family

01:47and friend that was here and we just wanted to honour her as a fellow swimmer. We were

01:53paying respect to what happened to her and celebrate her spirit. Now, this was the second

02:04fatal shark attack that's unfolded in Queensland in just over a month, so it is hitting very

02:10close to home for a lot of people. Now, we've spoken with Charlize's family who say that

02:14they don't want her to be remembered for the tragic way that she died, but instead

02:18for the incredible life that she did leave.

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