Rutzen hurt as girlfriend dies in car crash

The girlfriend of renowned sharks expert Mike Rutzen has been killed in a motoring accident, and Rutzen seriously injured.

Italian Elisabetta Castella and South African Rutzen were on holiday in Mozambique when their car reportedly rolled.

Castella died in the accident while Rutzen was airlifted to Johannesburg, where he was taken to the city’s Mediclinic Sandton.

Rutzen's injuries are reported to include broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Rutzen has been a regular speaker at Britain’s Dive Shows for several years.

He is known for his open-water swims with great white sharks and for his work as an educator in fostering a fuller understanding of the great white and other shark species.

For his Discovery Channel TV series Sharkman, Rutzen travelled the world to dive with different types of shark and, in some cases, demonstrate their tonic immobility reflex through inversion.

His company Shark Diving Unlimited, based in Gansbaai near Cape Town, runs trips to cage dive with great whites.