Leg bitten off

Drama off the Canary Islands: German dies after shark attack

Symbolic image

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Drama off the Spanish Canary Islands: A German tourist died in a shark attack on Monday afternoon. The 30-year-old lost a leg in the attack south of the vacation island of Gran Canaria, according to rescue workers.

The 30-year-old holidaymaker was rescued alive by a Spanish rescue helicopter, but died of cardiac arrest while still in the air on her way to the Canary Islands, reported the digital newspaper "Atlántico Hoy" and other media on the Spanish islands, citing the country's sea rescue service.

On a catamaran in the Atlantic 
According to the reports, the German woman was sailing in the Atlantic in a British catamaran when she jumped into the water a good 500 kilometers south of the Canary Islands off the coast of Western Sahara on Monday and was attacked by the shark.

She was admitted to the Doctor Negrín University Hospital in Las Palmas on the Canary Island of Gran Canaria on Tuesday night. However, the doctors there were only able to determine her death, it was said.

Moroccan authorities refused to help
Citing the Spanish maritime rescue service, "Atlántico Hoy" reported that the Spanish authorities had initially informed the relevant authorities in nearby Morocco. However, they had refused to send help. The Spanish air force was therefore called in, which immediately mobilized a rescue helicopter.

Attacks by sharks on humans are unusual in this area of the Atlantic Ocean south of the Canary Islands, wrote "Atlántico Hoy". Since records began in the 16th century, only seven have been counted, it said. It remained unclear which species of shark was responsible for the attack and where exactly the German came from.