A 65-year-old woman was killed in a shark attack at a popular beach on South Africa's southeastern coast, local authorities said. 

Officers were called to Orient Beach in KuGompo city, formerly East London, at around 7am local time (8am UK time) on Tuesday, where they found the woman's body, a police spokesperson said.

The woman was swimming with a ⁠group when she signalled for help, a ​witness told public broadcaster SABC.

"We all realised she'd been bitten ​by a shark, and she was in a very bad way," the witness said. "The bites were very severe, but there were only two, ​one on her thigh and one on her upper ​arm."

He said the woman was brought back to shore, where she was ‌pronounced ⁠dead.

Officers who attended ​the scene ⁠found her body with open wounds, police said.

The species of shark involved in the attack was ​not immediately known.

An inquest has been opened into the woman's death.

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Fellow swimmer Mike Loewe described the victim as a recently retired nuclear radiographer and a musician, and said her death had devastated the swimming community.

"The Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality is deeply saddened to confirm that a fatal shark attack occurred at the Orient Beach this morning, resulting in the tragic loss of a swimmer," municipal spokesman Luzuko Buku said in a statement.

Orient Beach and nearby Eastern Beach have been closed until further notice, and the municipality urged beachgoers to exercise caution.

South Africa's coast is popularly known for great white ​sharks, which draw tourists from around the world for cage diving, but shark attacks are rare.

The Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File recorded 29 unprovoked bites in the country between 2012 and 2021, with six of those fatal.