A seven -year -old child was seriously bitten with the arm and leg by a shark at Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia.
A seven -year -old child was seriously bitten with the arm and leg by a shark in Nuku Hiva, an island in the Marquesas archipelago, in French Polynesia, the local TNTV channel reported on Saturday. Information confirmed to AFP by the firefighters of the island.
A dozen children were having fun jumping from the quay on Friday in the Taiohae bay, the main village of the island, when a shark bit one of them on the arm and the leg.
“This is the first time that I have seen that”
“I am 35 years old and this is the first time that I have seen that, they were long and deep injuries,” a firefighter of Nuku Hiva told AFP who has rescue the victim, but did not wish to decline his identity.
“It is probably linked to the fish carcasses that fishermen throw there: there are a lot of sharks, such as black spikes, hammers, and lemons,” she added.
The child was transferred to the small island hospital, before being evacuated by plane to the French Polynesia hospital center, in Tahiti, 1,500 km from Nuku Hiva.
Shark attacks are rare in French Polynesia. The bites mainly concern underwater fishermen or people who practice “Shark Feeding”, a prohibited activity consisting in attracting sharks with food to observe them.