Police said that a surfer was feared dead on Tuesday after a shark attacked him in shallow water at a remote Western Australian beach.

Witnesses heard screams and saw a struggle at Wharton Beach in a remote area about 800 km (497miles) from Perth, the capital of the state. A 30-year old man from Melbourne has been reported missing.

Later, a surfboard with bitemarks was recovered on the beach.

The police believe that the victim was killed in the attack, after not being able to find his body.

The family has been informed. In an interview on Tuesday with Perth radio station 6PR, Western Australia Police commissioner Col Blanch stated that he suspected it would be a recovered body.

A witness shot footage from a drone that showed a shark swimming out of a cloud of blood near the shore.

This would make the man's death the fourth shark-related fatality in the area in 2017. Two of these attacks were believed to be caused by great black sharks that can reach up to 20 feet in length. (Reporting and editing by Lincoln Feast in Sydney, Alasdair Pala in Sydney)

(source: Reuters)