PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — A 22-year-old Connecticut woman visiting Turks and Caicos is hospitalized in serious condition after being attacked by a shark while snorkeling, local police said.
In a news release shared on social media Wednesday night, the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force said the unidentified woman from Connecticut was snorkeling with a friend when the attack happened.
According to police, they were swimming on the east coast of Providenciales Island, the third-largest island in the Caribbean country.
Police did not reveal how the pair escaped the shark and reached the shore. They said an employee of a resort located in the vicinity of the Leeward Marina called for emergency personnel. The call for the ambulance happened around 3:07 p.m. local time.
“The employee indicated that the female victim had her leg bitten off by a shark,” police said.
The woman was taken to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre, also in Providenciales Island, for treatment. She remains that the hospital in what police described as serious condition.
No other information was immediately available.
Editor's Note: The story has been updated to clarify the victim was not a guest of a nearby hotel.
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