Shark bite critically injures 51-year-old tourist at Hawaii beach, police say
A shark bite left a 51-year-old woman in critical condition at a beach on Paia Bay on Maui, Hawaii police reported.
The woman, who is from France, was swimming or snorkeling in murky water about 100 yards offshore when a shark bit her at 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, Maui police said in a news release.
Onlookers helped the woman to shore and began first aid before emergency crews arrived and took over, police said.
She was taken in critical condition to a Maui hospital, police said.
Officials closed three beaches after the incident, Hawaii News Now reported. The beaches are scheduled to remain closed until 7 a.m. Monday, Sept. 5.
On March 21, a 6-foot Galapagos shark nipped a diver on his big toe about a mile off Keahole Point on Hawaii and on Feb. 9 a cookiecutter shark bit a person floating off Kahaluu Beach Park in Kailua-Kona on the right foot and calf, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
The last fatal shark attack in Hawaii took place in December 2020, when a 14-foot tiger shark attacked a surfer off Maui, according to the publication.
This story was originally published September 4, 2022 at 9:41 AM with the headline "Shark bite critically injures 51-year-old tourist at Hawaii beach, police say."