Beaches along the Florida panhandle were closed after two back-to-back shark attacks that injured three people, two of them critically.
Miles of sugar-white sand beaches and turquoise waters were closed down in Florida after two back-to-back shark attacks. According to a press conference by the Walton County Sheriff's Office, the successive shark attacks were in 'close proximity' to one another on Friday afternoon.
Walton County Fire Rescue and South Walton Fire District responded to reports on Friday afternoon at 1:20 p.m. that a 45-year-old woman was attacked by a shark while enjoying the popular tourist destination. Authorities said that the woman was swimming just beyond a sandbar with her husband when she was suddenly attacked. She received 'significant trauma to the midsection and pelvic area and amputation of her left lower arm,' Crawford said.
Crawford said that, similarly to the first attack, the victims were swimming by a sandbar in waist-deep water before they were attacked. 'Victim one received significant injuries to one lower and one upper extremity,' Crawford said. 'Both required the application of tourniquets.' She was airlifted to a trauma center in Pensacola, Florida, authorities said. She remains in 'critical condition,' authorities said.
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