Edinburgh man feared dead in shark attack

Examiners found the man's hand and wedding ring inside a tiger shark

A Scottish man feared killed by a shark has been named by the authorities on Reunion Island.

Richard Martyn Turner, 44, from Edinburgh, vanished on Saturday while snorkelling in the Indian Ocean.

A severed arm was found inside a dead tiger shark and island prosecutor Eric Tuffery said a preliminary investigation showed it belonged to Mr Turner.

The shark was examined on Wednesday and a wedding ring was also found inside.

It is believed Mr Turner was on holiday with his wife.

Mr Tuffery said further tests, including DNA matching, would be used to confirm the identification.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: "We are providing support to the family of a British man who died while snorkelling in La Reunion and are in contact with the local authorities."

The island has put measures in place to protect people from shark attacks

Reunion - a French overseas territory - bans swimming and surfing because of the danger of shark attack. The only exceptions are in shallow waters of the island's lagoons.

But surfers have been know to flout the rules because of the waves which can be found further offshore.

The shark was caught for research purposes, along with several others, on Monday or Tuesday.

There have been two confirmed fatal shark attacks off Reunion this year.

In January, a fisherman died from his injuries after a shark tore off his leg. A surfer was killed in May.