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Surfer killed by great white shark on Gold Coast after breaching safety netting in first fatal attack in since 1958

At least 40 surfers were in the water when the beast attacked the 46-year-old unidentified man

A man was killed by a great white shark at a netted Gold Coast beach in the first fatal attack in the region since 1958, with surf cameras capturing the chilling incident. The attack took place at 5 pm Tuesday, just meters away from other surfers at Greenmount Beach, when a 46-year-old man was bitten on the leg. At least 40 surfers were in the water when the beast attacked. The victim, who has not been identified, was seen in footage captured by a Swellnet surf camera sitting in the water at the end of the line-up when the stalking shark, out of the deep blue, grabbed him and pulled him under.

Just moments later, the man is seen floating face down in the water -- before he is dragged to the shore. The predator lodged one tooth in the surfer's longboard while its bite stretched from his upper thigh to his knee. Footage shows the moment a surfer paddled the victim to shore with assistance from others present at the scene. Meanwhile, lifeguards are seen working frantically to treat the severe injury.

Despite the emergency responders' best efforts, the man who could not be saved and was pronounced dead shortly after their arrival.

Speaking to 7News, surfer Jade Parker said he first spotted a school of fish and nearly 30 birds near the victim. "There were four or five people yelling and pointing at the water, and I looked out to where they were pointing and I spotted a board floating and a body was next to it," Parker recalled.

Parker said he initially assumed the surfer had been knocked out because he wasn't moving. He then swam to the victim, who was in waist-deep water. "There were about three on the scene before me and they were all trying to drag him in with the board he had. I helped drag him into the beach as well," the surfer added.

Lifeguards were already waiting onshore with a stretcher when they arrived at the beach, but Parker said the victim was "pretty much gone" by then. According to him, the fatal injury stretched from the "groin area to just below his knee." "It was pretty much all taken... there was nothing there, it was just hanging there by not much," Parker said. The man had been surfing with a few other gentlemen, according to Queensland Ambulance Supervisor William Houghton. "It was actually witnessed by one of the other surfers, they saw him being attacked by the shark," he said.

Houghton noted how those present provided first aid on the beach. "It was a pretty traumatic event for everybody concerned," he said.

It is still not known how the shark was able to get to the man considering Greenmount Beach, which is located near the Queensland-New South Wales border, has shark control equipment including drum lines. The incident took place near the Tweed Heads and Coolangatta Lifesaving Club, and beaches north and south of Greenmount were cleared pending investigation. Having said that, this is the first fatal attack on the Gold Coast in 62 years - after Peter Gerard Spronk was killed in 1958. According to reports, he was mauled by a shark 250 meters off Surfers Paradise beach and succumbed to his injuries shortly after.

That said, beaches across the Gold Coast are expected to be closed on Wednesday as the investigation continues.