A woman is in a critical condition after being attacked by a shark at a New York beach.
The 50-year-old was in the water at Rockway Beach near the Beach 59th Street entrance of the Queens beach when she suffered a gash on her leg. The incident happened just before 6pm local time, the FDNY said.
Passers-by applied a tourniquet to the woman’s leg, which is believed to have been heavily bleeding, reports the New York Post. She was then rushed to Jamiaca Hospital.
The woman has been described as being in a serious but stable condition with non-life threatening injuries. However, eyewitnesses claim she was missing part of her leg.
Authorities say the encounter is thought to be a shark attack, say sources. The FDNY would only confirm it had responded to a patient with a “major injury” at the beach.
The NYPD and city’s parks and recreation departments are yet to comment on the incident. However an NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU) was seen flying a drone above the area after the attack.
Police sources say the NYPD and FDNY will now scan the waters for sharks. The police department has been using shark-monitoring drones since the beginning of the summer.
Sightings have become more common in Queens and on Long Island. A CBS 2 report in June said swimmers were forced to flee the Hammels section of Rockway Beach because of a shark sighting.
