According to Maui County officials, a surfer was killed over the weekend in what is suspected to be a shark attack.
The surfer, 39-year-old Jason Carter, was pronounced dead at Maui Memorial Medical Center on Saturday.
After the “shark encounter,” Carter was taken to the hospital by paramedics who rescued him from the water via jet ski and attempted life saving measures, Maui County said in a statement.
“The preliminary investigation reveals no signs of foul play,” the county said.
One eyewitness described the shark as being as big as a pickup truck, telling NBC News that it pulled the surfer into the water.
“The shark just started biting him and pulling him down,” he said. “The dorsal fin was almost as big as his [Carter’s] body. The height of it was almost as high as his head sitting on the board. It was hard to hear him screaming.”
The incident was the eighth shark encounter recorded in Hawaii last year but the only one that proved to be fatal.
Warning signs were placed alongside the beach one mile on either side of the incident by Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources.