Hundreds flock to beach in respect after a 13-year-surfer is killed in another shark attack on Reunion

Elio Canestri was described as a promising up and coming surfer

Young surfers gather to mourn the death of 13-year-old Elio Canestri (AFP)

Hundreds of people gathered on a beach to pay their respects to a 13-year-old surfing champion fatally attacked by a shark, after a hunt for the animal responsible led to the killing of an endangered Tiger shark later found to have played no part in the death.

Elio Canestri was bodyboarding with friends off the coast of Reunion Island in an area banned to swimmers due to the high risk of sharks when the attack took place.

The shark attacked whilst Elio was around 15 metres out into the sea and forced him off his board.

He was then dragged further out to sea, where the shark inflicted horrific injuries to his arms, legs and stomach.

A picture of Elio surfing from his Facebook page (AFP)

Though a boat managed to pull Elio from the water and take him back to the shore, he later died from his wounds.

It is not yet clear of the species of shark that carried out the attack was but specialised boats were deployed for “targeted fishing in the immediate area around the attack,” said the local authorities in the statement.

A few hours later a Tiger Shark, measuring over 3.5 metres, was captured and killed.

However according to a medical examination of the boy’s body, it was not the shark that had killed Elio.

The island has a high concentration of both Tiger and Bull sharks, the species responsible for the most sharks attacks behind the Great White.

After the news of the death was announced, hundreds of mourners came together on Les Aigrettes beach, on the western coast of the island, to commemorate the teenager.

Jeremy Flores, a professional surfer who grew up on the island, said in a post on Instagram: “Elio was one of our best up and coming surfers. Words can’t describe how sad and angry I am. So young !!!”

A spokesman for the rescue services said that those who witnessed the attack were now being treated for trauma.

They said: “A boat was launched very quickly, and the victim was dragged out of the sea, but he died from those wounds.

"Those who witnessed the attack, including other children, are being treated for trauma."

The Daily Mail reports that another witness told local radio: “'It is horrific. The boy was always smiling and happy – everybody knew him.

"A gendarme helicopter appeared very quickly, and we were all told to evacuate the beach."

Over the course of the last four years there have been 16 shark attacks off the coast of the island, seven of them fatal.

In February, island authorities extended a prohibiting swimming and other water-based activities such as surfing and windsurfing except for in designated areas.

This has resulted in a dramatic decline in tourism on the island, which lies to the east of Madagascar.

Reunion is the outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas part of France, an area of the Eurozone.