NORTH WEST ISLAND (AUSTRALIA)- A 23-year old man died after he was bitten by a shark while swimming on a work trip in the southern Great Barrier Reef on Monday. The young Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service officer suffered severe injuries to his leg, hand and elbow.
He was swimming with a group of friends near North West Island, about 75 kilometres north-east of Gladstone on the central Queensland coast. As he was swimming back to their charter vessel, he was bitten by a Reef Shark. A rescue helicopter took a doctor and paramedics to the charter boat offshore, where they treated the man, before he was winched into the rescue helicopter and flown to Gladstone Hospital with a critical care paramedic aboard. There he died of his injuries.
It is the third shark attack in just over 3 months in the waters near North West Island. In January, a 9-year-old girl was bitten by probably a Lemon Shark, suffering a wound to the back of her leg, and puncture wounds to her foot. In december a Shovelnose Shark bit a man in shallow waters at North West Island. He suffered minor injuries to his right hand and leg.
Read more from the Associated Australian Press.
