A 10-year-old boy was bitten on the leg in the shark tank attraction at a luxury resort in the Bahamas.
Witnesses said they saw a “pool of blood” in the water after the boy from Maryland, USA, was attacked. He was taken to hospital for treatment of a leg injury and is in stable condition, authorities said on Wednesday.
The incident is said to have occurred at the Atlantis Resort, a 400-acre tourist attraction with hotels, casinos and water parks that dominates Paradise Island.
Local police said they had launched an investigation without specifying the exact location, but witnesses described an attack at Atlantis in detail to NBC News.
The Atlantis resort offers a “walk with sharks” adventure, according to a now-deleted website. Participants do not need to be able to swim and can apparently go “nose to nose” with Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks in a designated pool.
“When the little boy came down, the situation took a dark turn,” a witness told US media. “We saw the shark approaching him and then only a pool of blood.”
According to reports, the screaming child was taken to a medical facility on the island while the other visitors fled.
Promotional photos on the Atlantis website show vacationers in wetsuits and modified diving equipment walking surrounded by sharks.
A description states: “Using state-of-the-art clear glass helmets, resort guests can walk on the floor of the shark exhibit and come face to face with the guardians of the lost world of Atlantis. No swimming experience is necessary.”
Other photos show a woman holding a starfish up to the camera while a shark swims in the background, and a number of sharks and smaller fish swimming on the steps of a replica of a Mayan temple.
Visitors can also observe the sharks from the safety of a clear plastic tunnel located at the end of a five-story slide.
The resort is home to seven different species of shark, including the 2.10-metre-long blacktip reef shark and the great hammerhead shark, which can grow up to 6 metres long. Only one of the species, the shovelnose hammerhead shark, is considered harmless to humans.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement: “A 10-year-old boy from Maryland, USA, was reportedly bitten by a shark shortly before 4pm on Monday.
“Preliminary reports indicate that the boy was bitten on the right leg by a shark while taking part in an expedition in a shark tank at a local resort.
“He was taken to hospital for medical attention and is currently in a stable condition. The investigation into this incident is ongoing.”
Paddleboarder died of injuries
Last month, a 44-year-old man from Boston, Massachusetts, was killed by a shark while paddleboarding off the coast of New Providence in the Bahamas.
Lauren Erickson Van Wart was pulled onto a boat by a lifeguard but died at the scene of the accident after suffering “significant injuries to the right side of her body.”
A 47-year-old German woman disappeared in November in an apparent shark attack while diving off the island of Grand Bahama. She is said to have been attacked by a tiger shark off an area called Tiger Beach.
Atlantis Bahamas has been contacted for comment.
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