Girl critical after second Australian shark attack

A girl was attacked by a shark at the same Great Barrier Reef island in Australia yesterday where a woman was mauled a day earlier.

The 12-year-old was rescued by helicopter from Cid Harbour on Whitsunday Islands off the Queensland state coast after being bitten on the upper leg.

The girl, who was holidaying with her father and sister, is in critical condition and will have surgery. She had lost a significant amount of blood after she was mauled on the thigh, said Queensland ambulance operations manager Tracey Eastwick.

“It is horrific … for us as a community of paramedics it is quite confronting to have two similar incidents in the space of less than 24 hours,” she said. The last shark attack in the area was eight years ago. The Queensland government will set three drum lines in the area in a bid to prevent any further attacks. Fisheries officers and water police were also patrolling the area, while swimmers were told to stay out of the water.