Bitten in the leg

Woman seriously injured in shark attack near Sydney

The surrounding beaches were closed after the shark attack and the public was warned against swimming.

(Bild: facebook.com/NSWPoliceMAC)

A woman has been attacked by a shark on Australia's east coast and seriously injured in her right leg. The animal attacked its victim at Gunyah Beach, south of the Sydney metropolis, at midday (local time), according to the local rescue services. The woman was flown to hospital by rescue helicopter in a critical condition.

Eyewitnesses had heard the screams of the 50-year-old woman and rushed to her aid despite the danger, said Andrew Bibby from NSW Ambulance. The injured woman would probably not have managed to save herself from the water otherwise, he emphasized. The rescuers also administered first aid before the emergency doctors arrived.

The rescue organization Westpac Life Saver reported on the incident on the short message platform X:

"What the people who helped her before we arrived did was absolutely remarkable," said Bibby. The victim is said to have suffered serious wounds and lost a lot of blood. First responders tried to stop the bleeding with towels.

Local residents reported bull sharks
It was not initially known what type of shark was involved. The 9News channel reported, citing local residents, that bull sharks had recently been spotted in the region. Together with great white sharks and tiger sharks, this species is considered one of the most dangerous types of predatory fish.

Recently, shark attacks have become more frequent in Australia, especially in the tropical state of Queensland further north. In February, a 17-year-old girl was fatally injured off the sandy Bribie Island near Brisbane. In December, a man was killed by one of the predatory fish while spearfishing near Humpy Island in the Great Barrier Reef.