PARIS >> Authorities say a shark killed a 22-year-old surfer in the Indian Ocean waters off France’s Reunion Island.

Island government spokesman Serge Bideau says the man was in a surfing spot west of the island Monday when a shark bit off his right leg.

Witnesses helped the victim, identified as island resident Alexandre Rassica, to shore where rescue workers tried in vain to resuscitate him.

The type of shark involved was not immediately clear.

The number of shark attacks has risen in Reunion Island in the last two years. There have been seven attacks — not all fatal — since the start of 2011.

France launched an investigation this year into the reasons behind the growing number of such attacks.