Girl bitten in second shark attack within 24 hours

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl was bitten by a shark yesterday in the same area near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef where a tourist was mauled less than 24 hours earlier, authorities sy.

The girl’s leg was injured when she was bitten in Cid Harbour in the Whitsunday Islands region, helicopter ambulance service RACQ CQ Rescue said on Twitter.

Late on Wednesday, a female tourist was attacked by a shark while snorkelling in Cid Harbour and was left with significant leg and torso injuries

It was not clear what kind of shark attacked, or if the same shark was responsible for both incidents.

The first victim, identified as a 46-year-old woman from Tasmania, was saved by an emergency department doctor who happened to be on a nearby boat, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) news agency reported.

The woman was pulled on to a boat and John Hadok helped to stop her heavy bleeding in time for a rescue helicopter to arrive.

She arrived at Mackay Base Hospital in an altered state of consciousness and complaining of “significant levels of pain”, AAP reported, citing an ambulance service spokeswoman.

She remained in a critical condition in hospital yesterday.