A shark attack at Crowdy Bay National Park on Australia’s east coast left a woman dead and a man seriously injured during an early morning swim, police said.
Experts note it’s rare for a shark to attack more than one person. The coastal park, located about 224 miles north of Sydney, is known for its beaches, camping, fishing, and hiking.
Emergency crews responded to Kylies Beach around 6:30 a.m. after reports that two people in their mid-20s had been bitten by a shark. Beaches in the area and to the north of the attack were closed to swimmers indefinitely, Police Chief Insp. Timothy Bayly confirmed.
“At this stage, all I’m prepared to say is they were known to each other and they were going for a swim and the shark attacked,” Bayly told reporters, declining to detail the injuries or the circumstances of the attack.
A bystander assisted both victims before paramedics arrived, but the woman died at the scene. The man was airlifted to a hospital, where paramedic Josh Smyth said he was in serious but stable condition. While the identities of the man and woman were not released, media reports indicate they were European tourists.
Smyth said the bystander’s first aid might have prevented a double fatality: “I just really need to have a shoutout to the bystander on the beach who put a makeshift tourniquet on the male’s leg which obviously potentially saved his life and allowed New South Wales Ambulance paramedics to get to him and render first aid.”
Bayly said police will work with experts to identify the shark species involved. The state government deployed five drumlines—baited hooks on floats—off Kylies Beach to try to catch it. Gavin Naylor, who heads the University of Florida’s shark research program and manages the International Shark Attack File, noted that a single shark attacking more than one person is exceptionally rare.
“It is very unusual. Individual shark attacks are rare. And shark attacks on two people by the same individual is not unheard of, but it’s very rare,” Naylor said.
Tragic Shark Attack in Australia
A woman has died and a man is critically injured after a shark attack at a remote beach in New South Wales. Both victims are in their 20s; the man was airlifted to hospital.#Capitalfm #NewsUpdates pic.twitter.com/aPpfrPXeCa
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