Thursday March 8 10:23 AM ET

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - A shark killed a young Brazilian man off a beach in the northeastern city of Recife, known for its shark attacks, officials said on Thursday.

The body of the 20-year-old student washed up on the city's famous Boa Viagem beach two days after he went swimming.

``The front of the thorax and all internal organs were ripped out,'' said Dr. Jorge Mota of the Institute of Legal Medicine. ''The body was also missing a forearm, a part of the thigh and the face.''

It was not immediately clear if the man was swimming beyond the coral reefs that run along the coast of the city, located 1,700 miles northeast of Sao Paulo. Recife is the Portuguese word for reef.

The Pernambuco state government warns bathers not to go beyond the reefs. It banned surfing in the area in 1999 after a young man lost his two hands in a shark attack also off Boa Viagem.

It was the 33rd recorded shark attack on Pernambuco's southern coast and the 11th death since 1992.

The Fire Department said it had not identified the type of shark that attacked the swimmer.

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