A shark bit three people at a beach in South Texas, the city’s fire chief calling it an unprecedented incident on July 4, the same day a shark bit someone in Florida, officials said.
In Texas, three people were bitten in the town of South Padre Island, on a barrier island near Brownsville. The shark was later located and “pushed to deeper water,” Fire Chief Jim Pigg said.
“It’s unprecedented here on South Padre Island,” he said. There were two incidents of shark bites at different times and locations Thursday, he said.
Police responded to a 911 call about 11 a.m. for “a serious shark bite to the leg,” city spokeswoman Nikki Soto said, after which the victim was taken to a local hospital.
After a second 911 call about a shark attack, firefighters found two people bitten by a shark, Pigg said. They were also taken to the hospital.
Kyle Jud, 46, said he saw a woman being pulled from the water and her leg appeared to have been bitten.
“Beach patrol picked her up — her calf was just gone, torn apart. Horrible,” Jud said, posting video of a shark in the water as a helicopter and boat patrolled.
One of the victims was flown home from a hospital in Brownsville for further treatment, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.
“Shark encounters of this nature are not common in Texas,” the department said. “When shark bites do occur, they are usually a case of mistaken identity by sharks searching for food.”
Pigg said it has not yet been determined what type of shark it is and that an investigation is ongoing.
Pigg said lifeguards encouraged people in South Padre Island, a beach resort of about 2,000 on the barrier island of the same name, to stay out of the water or at least not go deeper than knee-deep in water.
After the shark was spotted and pushed to deeper water, no further sightings were made, but Pigg said authorities would remain vigilant.
South Padre Island Mayor Patrick McNulty said, “Our hearts and prayers are with the injured and their families and we hope for a speedy recovery.”
In New Smyrna Beach, Florida, a 21-year-old man was bitten by a shark while playing football in knee-deep water around 4 p.m., said Tamra Malphurs, interim director of Volusia County Beach Safety.
The man, who was visiting the Atlantic coast city from Ohio, was taken to a hospital, where his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, Malphurs said.
Last year, there were 36 unprovoked shark attacks on humans in the U.S., two of which resulted in deaths, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File in its most recent annual report.
The project, which documents shark attacks around the world, says the chance of being attacked by a shark is relatively small, but swimmers can reduce the risk even further by staying in groups and closer to shore.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
