A man has been killed in a shark attack on the New South Wales north coast, police say, a day after another man was injured by a shark in the same area.

Police said the man, believed to be a Japanese national, died at Shelly Beach near Ballina, some 730km (452 miles) north of Sydney.

Surfers helped him to shore and performed first aid, but the man died.

There have been several shark attacks off Australia's beaches in recent years.

The attack happened around 09:45 (22:45 GMT Sunday) on Monday, police said. Friends of the man rushed him to shore to try to save him, but could not.

"Because both legs were gone, he bled to death very quickly,'' the Associated Press news agency quoted Ballina Mayor David Wright as saying.

Beaches in the area have been closed, with this incident coming soon after a 35-year-old man was attacked on his surf board off Seven Mile Beach near Byron Bay, only 30km north of Ballina.

He was reported to have suffered a cut to his back and puncture wounds to his buttocks, but was stable after driving himself to hospital on Monday.

"I just freaked out," Jabez Reitman said of his attack by a shark estimated to be 2-3m (7-10ft) long on Sunday. "I thought it was a dolphin at first until I started feeling and realised it was pretty significant lacerations."

Concern has grown over shark attacks recently. A 50-year-old Briton was killed by a shark in Byron Bay in September 2014.

Western Australia has also seen a series of attacks but attempts by its government to introduce a shark cull were dropped last year.

Baited traps known as drum lines had been set up along seven beaches to catch sharks, catching more than 170 during a 13-week trial in early 2014.

None was great white sharks, however, to which most of the recent fatal attacks had been attributed.

The state's environmental regulator blocked the controversial policy, citing "a high degree of scientific uncertainty" about the impact on the white shark population.

Source: BBC