Gran swallowed by shark as big as a helicopter

An elderly woman was devoured by a 22ft great white shark as she took a morning dip at a tourist beach in South Africa yesterday.

Witnesses including children saw the beast attack 77-year-old grandmother Tyna Webb three times then circle her before dragging her beneath the waves 60ft off Fish Hoek beach, Cape Town.

Her red swimming cap floating on the swell was all that was left.

Rescuers who searched in vain said they had spotted a shark 'as big as a helicopter'.

Paul Dennett watched the horror from his beachside home along with his fiancȥ and her daughter.

He said he saw a wild thrashing in the sea and at first thought the shark was attacking a seal.

'Then I saw somebody in the water. There was a hell of a lot of blood,' he said.

' I then saw the shark circle around the victim, and then in just one big mouth, and not even breaching the water, took her in.'

Another witness said the shark,

'took her, leaving her lying in the water, and then came back for her again and again'. Mrs Webb, who lived alone locally, had regularly bathed there at dawn for 17 years.

'She swam every day, except on Sundays. Then she would walk down to the church,' said Lorraine Lemmon-Warde, one of a group of friends who were with her.

'She was a tall, very elegant, handsome lady. She was athletic and in excellent health,' she added.

Although further out than the rest of them, Mrs Webb was still in shallow water.

She had often been warned not to go too far out but always said, 'When it's my time, it will be my time,' said Mrs Lemmon-Warde.

An air-sea rescue mission failed to find a body.

Craig Lambinon, of the National Sea Rescue Institute said a shark had been spotted in the vicinity, which he said was 'bigger than the helicopter - huge'.

He added that it was highly unusual for a great white to repeatedly attack a person.

He suspected that fish released by fishermen in the area may have created a feeding frenzy.

Bait has been put out to attract sharks for the benefit of tourists diving in cages. Prince Harry went on such a dive this year during a visit to Cape Town.

It was the third shark attack in the area in just over a year and the bay has now been closed to bathers and surfers until further notice.

The great white is found in large numbers around South Africa. Sightings in Fish Hoek bay have increased dramatically in recent years.