13-Year-Old Boy Dies After Being Mauled by Shark at Popular Tourist Beach: 'Ate Almost His Entire Leg'
- - 13-Year-Old Boy Dies After Being Mauled by Shark at Popular Tourist Beach: 'Ate Almost His Entire Leg'
Becca LongmireJanuary 30, 2026 at 6:36 PM
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Generic image of a bull shark
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A 13-year-old boy has died after being mauled by a shark in the ocean near the city of Recife, Brazil
The teenager — identified as Deivson Rocha Dantas — was swimming at Del Chifre Beach when the attack happened
Dantas reportedly died from his injuries before he reached the hospital
A 13-year-old boy has died after being mauled by a shark in Brazil.
On Thursday, Jan. 29, the teenager — identified as Deivson Rocha Dantas — was swimming at Del Chifre Beach near the city of Recife, when the attack occurred, according to translated reporting by local outlets O Globo, UOL Notícias Brasil and G1.
Dantas was taken to Tricentenário Hospital, in Bairro Novo, but didn't survive his injuries, per O Globo. The incident happened at around 2 p.m. local time, G1 noted.
Levy Dalton, the doctor who treated Dantas, said the teenager had been bitten on the right thigh, before suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest. He'd died by the time he arrived at the hospital, UOL Notícias Brasil reported.
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Casa Caiada beach near Recife, Brazil
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"Unfortunately, we were unable to resuscitate him, (...) unfortunately we couldn't do much for him," Dalton told reporters, per the outlet.
"He had a fairly extensive injury to an artery in his lower limb, and because the injury was so extensive, he probably lost a lot of blood," the doctor continued. "That's what led to his death. He arrived at the unit already deceased…"
According to G1, the victim had been playing with friends in the ocean before the attack.
Dantas' cousin, Lídia Emanuele, told TV Globo that the teenager had been pulled from the water by others who were around the same age, G1 noted.
Shark warning signs in Recife, Brazil
Emmanuele Contini/NurPhoto via Getty
"[The shark] ate almost his entire leg. We called the ambulance, but they didn't arrive in time. So, his own friends, who were the same age as him, pulled him out. They took him out of the sea, dragged him to the corner, and put him on the ground. He also fainted and hit his head. By then he was already cold," Emanuele said, per the outlet.
The victim's cousin told the station that Dantas had left home without his mother knowing, G1 reported.
"I was at my grandmother's house. She lives right there [near the beach], on the second floor. I had gone downstairs because my uncle had called his [Deivson's] mother, because he came to the beach secretly, his mother didn't know. Then, when I got here, his friend was already shouting and saying that the shark had gotten him. I only managed to see the fin and a little bit of the shark. It was big," he said, according to the outlet.
This isn't the first shark attack that's occurred in the area. O Globo reported that the coast of Pernambuco had recorded more than 80 attacks since 1992, with at least 27 deaths during that time, citing data from the State Committee for Monitoring Shark Incidents (Cemit).
Brazil's Ministry of Health didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.
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Source: “AOL Breaking”
