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A teenager has died after his penis was ripped off in a horrific shark attack as he swam with friends a the beach.

Horrified holidaymakers rushed to Jose Ernestor da Silva's aid and pulled him from the sea as the terrifying attack unfolded.

The shark struck as lifeguards told the youngsters to come closer to the shore, according to reports.

Jose passed away at the Restauracao Hospital after rescuers desperately attempted to stem his bleeding at the scene.

Footage shows rescuers carrying the 18-year-old onto Piedade beach near Recife, Brazil.

They try to stem the blood by tying garments around the wound, while others can be heard tell the clearly stunned teenager to “breathe”.

(Image: PRAIA DE PIEDADE/Youtube)

An ambulance rushed Jose to hospital, where he reportedly suffered two heart attacks and had a leg amputated.

Despite undergoing emergency surgery, his penis and femur were “amputated” by the bite of what is believed to be a tiger shark, according to medics.

Rodrigo Matias, from Recife’s fire department, said the victim was swimming with his brother and friends in deep waters near the shore, in an area marked by signs warning of shark attacks.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

(Image: Matt Roper)

Seeing that the group was drifting further out, lifeguards called for them to return to shallower waters.

He said: “At the exact moment in which the lifeguards asked for them to come closer to the beach, he was bitten.”

Ambulance medic Wagner Monteiro said Jose had a heart attack after arriving at the local Aeronautica Hospital, and another as he was being transported to the Restauracao Hospital in the centre of Recife.

He said: “The shark bite amputated his femur and his penis. He lost a lot of blood and is in a critical condition.”

A spokesman for the Restauracao Hospital said Jose was rushed into surgery after arriving at the hospital at 5.53pm.

Jose’s mother Elisangela dos Anjos, 42, told Brazil’s JC Online that he had gone to the beach without her knowing, and she only knew about after his his brother Ezequiel, who was with him, called her from the beach following the attack.

(Image: PRAIA DE PIEDADE/Youtube)

(Image: Matt Roper)

Speaking from the hospital, she said: “He would go in secret, because he knew that I thought it was dangerous. I wasn’t worried because I thought he was somewhere around the house.

“When I heard about it I went crazy, all the neighbours heard me screaming.”

It is the second time in less than two months that a shark attack has left a swimmer in a critical condition at the same beach in the Jabotao de Guararapes district of greater Recife.

(Image: Matt Roper) (Image: Matt Roper)

On April 15, 35-year-old Pablo de Melo had to have a leg and a hand amputated after being attacked by a shark at almost the exact same spot.

The holidaymaker was admitted to hospital in a critical condition after being bitten in the arm and leg in waist deep water.

The latest incident is the 65th shark attack registered along the coast of Brazil’s north-east Pernambuco state since 1992.

Eighty per cent of the incidents have occurred along the 18-mile stretch of beach in the region of Recife, a popular holiday resort for foreign tourists.

More than 110 warning signs have been installed along the coastline where the attacks have occurred.