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Apr 30, 2008 7:15 am US/Eastern
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Shark Attack Kills American Surfer In Mexico
ACAPULCO, Mexico (CBS) ―
A San Francisco surfer was killed in a shark attack off Mexico's southern Pacific coast, officials said Tuesday.
Adrian Ruiz, 24, bled to death after a gray shark bit his right thigh, leaving a 15-inch wound, the Guerrero state Public Safety Department said in a statement.
The attack occurred at the Troncones beach, near the beach resort of Ixtapa. The local newspaper Despertar de la Costa said Ruiz was about 300 yards offshore when attacked.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico could not immediately confirm details, but the local officials said Ruiz was surfing with a fellow American. The other man was not injured.
The government statement said Ruiz suffered wounds "that reached from the hip to the knee, exposing the femur."
He died a few minutes after reaching the hospital from loss of blood, according to the government statement.
Shark attacks are relatively rare in Mexico. In 2006, the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History reported only one attack in Mexico, which was not fatal.
The death comes on the heels of a fatal shark attack in Solana Beach, Calif. last Friday.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)