Swimmer mauled by shark in front of crowd of beachgoers as police search for missing man
Watch the shocking moment a swimmer, now missing, is mauled by a shark in the Mediterranean Sea.
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Video footage revealed the harrowing moment a diver thrashes in the water off Hadera, north-west Israel.
Horrified crowds watched as the shark entered a frenzy as the water turned red with blood.
Earlier social media clips show the animal swimming around paddlers in the shallow water - including children.
The attack happened in a stretch of beach where swimming is prohibited, according to the JNS.
Helicopters scanned the water to look for the swimmer, who's yet to be found.
The police have closed the beach while they continue the search.
"I saw the diver in the depths of the water, he shouted: 'I'm bitten, I'm bitten,' and waved his hands in the air," one eyewitness told Channel 12 News.
"After a few minutes, sharks bit him - and suddenly he disappeared."
Channel 12 News said that the shark has also attacked a rescue diver.
The Hadera Municipality Coastal Department said they were "conducting searches by jet ski to locate the diver and will continue to update as developments occur".
"We urge the public traveling in the area to avoid entering the water and contact with the sharks."
The Isreal Police said: "A short time ago, officers from the Hadera Police Station and the Maritime Police were dispatched to the Hadera stream following reports from citizens who claimed they saw a shark attacking a diver in the water.
"Forces are en route, but no casualties have been located so far."
Shark attacks in the Mediterranean and Israel are very rare.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel commented on the event: "Every winter, a unique phenomenon occurs in Israel in which sharks and rays gather at the outlet of the warm waters of the powerstations.
"In the case of such a fascinating and public-attracting phenomenon, it would be appropriate to take conservation and safety measures for the public, but over the years, chaos has developed in the area."