US swimmer dies from suspected shark attack: police

A swimmer in the northeastern United States died from an apparent shark bite on Saturday, a police report on the rare incident said.

The victim, in his mid-20s, "was bitten by what is believed to be a shark" while he swam at Newcomb Hollow Beach in the Cape Cod area of Massachusetts, Wellfleet Police said in a statement.

He was pulled from the water and taken to hospital by fire-fighters but succumbed to his injuries, the police said.

They did not release the victim's name.

"The town beaches are closed to swimming for the next 24 hours," the police said.

Several years ago a man was confirmed to have been bitten by a great white shark in the ocean near the shoreline of Truro in Cape Cod.

But the chances of being attacked by a shark are nearly one in four million, according to the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson, Arizona.