Sydney, Australia - Beaches in eastern Sydney, Australia were closed and authorities were investigating on Thursday following the death of a swimmer in what is believed to be the first fatal shark attack in the city in some 60 years.

Emergency services were called at 4:35 PM local time on Wednesday to Little Bay, some 10 miles south-east of Sydney's CBD, "after receiving a report that a shark attacked a swimmer in the water," New South Wales Police said in a statement on Thursday.

Authorities and rescuers "attended and located human remains in the water," the statement said, adding that no further details were initially available.

Local media cited witnesses as saying that the swimmer was mauled by what they described as a great white shark about 13 feet long.

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"[The swimmer] suffered catastrophic injuries and there was nothing paramedics could do," NSW Ambulance inspector Lucky Phrachnanh was cited as saying by news agency AAP.

Randwick council confirmed that beaches in the eastern suburb including Little Bay, Malabar, Maroubra, Coogee, Clovelly, and La Perouse remained closed on Thursday as "Lifeguards use drones and jet skis to check the area for any further shark sightings."

Later, NSW police said that beaches further south, including Cronulla, were also closed.

According to local media the last fatal shark attack in Sydney was in 1963.