Jan. 19 (UPI) — A surfer was bitten by a shark in waters off Sydney on Monday evening, the second person to suffer critical injuries in a shark attack near the Australia’s largest city in little more than 24 hours.
Emergency services were notified of the most recent attack at about 6:20 p.m. AEDT Monday, the New South Wales Police Force said in a statement.
The surfer, identified as a man believed to be in his 20s, was pulled from the waters of North Steyne Beach, Manly, near Sydney Harbour National Park by members of the public who performed first aid on the victim before emergency services could arrive.
The man suffered what NSW Police called “serious leg injuries,” and was transported by ambulance to Royal North Shore Hospital in critical condition, authorities said.
“All beaches on the Northern Beaches are closed until further notice, and this will be reviewed on an ongoing basis,” the NSW Police Force said.
The man is the second person to be sent to hospital in critical condition due to a shark attack in a day, after a 12-year-old boy was hospitalized following an attack on Sunday.
Authorities said the boy was with friends, leaping off a 20-foot rock into the brackish waters of the Hermitage Foreshore Walk, located about 10 miles south of North Steyne Beach, when he was attacked at about 4:20 p.m. Sunday.
The boy was rescued from the ocean and was transported to Children’s Hospital in Randwick.
Superintendent Joseph McNulty, commander of the NSW Police Marine Area Command, told reporters Monday prior to the second attack that the boy was “fighting for his life.”
“We believe it was something like a bull shark that attacked the lower limbs of that boy yesterday,” he said, describing the scene that police arrived at as “horrendous.”
The attacks come months after 57-year-old Mercury Psillakis died from a shark attack in September.
Northern Beaches Council on Monday said its thoughts and wishes were with the man who was attacked at North Steyne Beach.
“Many are still grieving the loss of Mercury Psillakis and we are all shocked this can happen again so soon on our beaches,” Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins said in a statement.
All beaches across the Northern Beaches are to remain closed Tuesday and Wednesday, Heins added.