Tasmania: Man dies of heart attack after apparent stingray attacks while swimming

"It was reported he was unaccompanied in the water at the time of sustaining a puncture wound to his lower abdomen."

A 42-year-old man has died of a heart attack after apparently being stung by a stingray while swimming off the Tasmania coast, police said.

Attempts to resuscitate the man, who suffered a cardiac arrest on Saturday afternoon in the waters a short distance from shore east of Hobart, were unsuccessful, police said.

"He was removed from the water by friends prior to the arrival of emergency services," the Tasmanian police said in a statement.

"It was reported he was unaccompanied in the water at the time of sustaining a puncture wound to his lower abdomen."

The police statement did not name the man.

Stingrays are not considered aggressive and fatal stingray attacks on humans are extremely rare. Its venom causes pain and can alter heart rate and breathing.

In 2006, Australian conservationist and "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin died after a stingray's serrated barb pierced his heart while filming off Australia's northern Great Barrier Reef. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

(With inputs from agencies.)