Incident Report
Swimmer Sustains Severe Leg Bite in Vietnam's South China Sea
Quy Nhon, Gia Lai·Vietnam
A 57-year-old man swimming with friends approximately 150 meters offshore at Quy Nhon sustained a severe bite to his right leg. Local fishermen believed a shark was responsible for the incident, which occurred in waters where sharks had been sighted in previous decades.
Please take a moment to consider the human impact of this event on the victim and their loved ones. The data presented here documents real events that affected real people and families.
Incident Profile
Circumstances
Environmental
Individual
Location
Description
On July 18, 2009, a 57-year-old male swimmer was injured while bathing in the South China Sea near Quy Nhon Town, Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam. The incident occurred approximately 150 meters from shore while the victim was in the water with friends. The swimmer sustained a severe bite to his right leg. Though the specific shark species involved could not be definitively confirmed, local fisherman Bui Ngoc Trung, who was familiar with marine activity in the area, believed the incident involved a shark. Trung reported having frequently observed both sharks and dolphins near Nhon Chau Island off Quy Nhon during the 1980s, providing credibility to the shark identification. Quy Nhon Town is situated on Vietnam's 350-kilometer "Beach Coast" along the South China Sea, approximately 238 kilometers north of Nha Trang and 303 kilometers south of Danang. The town's beach is bordered by a boardwalk and serves as a base for exploring the region's marine environment. The victim survived the encounter, though details regarding specific medical treatment were not documented. This incident represents one of the relatively uncommon shark bite cases in Vietnamese waters and highlights the presence of sharks in the waters surrounding Vietnam's central coast.