Australian beaches closed after latest shark attack

Sydney

SEVERAL beaches on Australia's east coast remained closed on Sunday after a bodyboarder was seriously hurt in a shark attack, just weeks after two others were badly mauled at a nearby location.

A 38-year-old man was bodyboarding with a friend off Lighthouse Beach, about 400 kilometres north of Sydney, late on Saturday afternoon when he was attacked and suffered "life-threatening injuries", New South Wales state police said. He was treated at Port Macquarie Hospital for stomach and back wounds and was in a stable condition on Sunday morning, a hospital spokeswoman told AFP.