A swimmer has died of a heart attack after he was stung by a stingray in Australia.
Police said the 42-year-old man went into cardiac arrest at Lauderdale Beach, near Hobart in Tasmania.
It happened on Saturday and the victim, who has not been named, suffered a puncture wound to his lower abdomen.
Tasmania Police said: "Attempts to resuscitate the male were unsuccessful. In the immediate period prior to his death the male had been bathing in the waters a short distance from the shore.
"He was removed from the water by friends prior to the arrival of emergency services.
"It was reported he was unaccompanied in the water at the time of sustaining a puncture wound to his lower abdomen."
The incident recalled the 2006 death of Steve Irwin while filming an underwater scene for a television series. A stingray's stinging barbs had pierced his heart.
Stingray attacks are rare, with the creatures considered non-dangerous.
