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Shark kills Venezuelan during Coast Guard rescue

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ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) -- One of seven Venezuelan men whose boat capsized near Aruba died after he was attacked by a shark while being rescued, the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard said Monday. Two other men perished when they sank with the vessel.

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Spokesman Roderick Gouverneur told The Associated Press that the shark attacked the man as he was clinging to a rescue buoy and a member of the Coast Guard suspended from a helicopter was trying to rescue him. He said the man died Saturday on the way to the hospital.

Four other men who survived by holding on to a refrigerator and pallet were hospitalized in Aruba for dehydration.

The men were traveling from Bonaire to Aruba to sell whiskey when their boat capsized after it was hit by a wave, Gouverneur said. Venezuelans often travel on boats laden with goods to sell throughout the Dutch Caribbean islands.