A 22-year-old Connecticut woman had her leg bitten off in a shark attack while she and a friend were snorkeling in Turks and Caicos, local police said.
The woman, who has not been identified, was taken to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre in serious condition, the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force said in an Instagram statement.
Police said the woman and her friend were snorkeling Wednesday just after 3 p.m. outside a resort near the Leeward Marina in Providenciales, one of the islands, when she was attacked. A spokesperson at the resort, however, said the woman was not a guest and the incident does not have anything to do with the resort or the Leeward Marina.
"Our understanding is that she was the guest of another resort and the client of a boat excursion company, neither of which we are affiliated with nor located near," spokesperson Stephanie Mack said in a statement.
Authorities said that the employee of a resort located in the vicinity of the Leeward Marina called police about the shark attack and requested an ambulance. The employee indicated that the woman had her leg bitten off by a shark, the police statement said.
The police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
