An Italian surfer has died after being impaled in the chest by a sharp-billed fish while surfing off Indonesia’s West Sumatra coast.
Giulia Manfrini, 36, had been surfing in the Mentawai Islands, a remote island chain when she suffered a “freak accident,” said her business partner James Colston.
“Unfortunately, even with the brave efforts of her partner, local resort staff and doctors, Giulia couldn’t be saved,” Colston said Sunday in a statement on Instagram. “We believe she died doing what she loved, in a place that she loved.”
Lahmudin Siregar, acting head of the Mentawai Islands disaster management agency, said Manfrini was struck in the chest by a swordfish while surfing off the southern part of Siberut Island around 9:30 a.m. local time, according to state-news agency Antara.
According to a medical report, she suffered a stab wound to the upper left chest with a depth of about five centimeters, …