American woman killed in bull shark attack while snorkeling with family in Bahamas

The victim was a 58-year-old woman from the Lake Erie area of Pennsylvania.

By6abc Digital Staff ABCNews logo
Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Pennsylvania woman dies after being bitten by shark in Bahamas
A 58-year-old woman from Pennsylvania has died after she was bitten by a bull shark in the Bahamas.

An American woman was killed in a shark attack while snorkeling with her family in the Bahamas on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

A family of five, from the Lake Erie area of Pennsylvania, were on a snorkeling tour in the waters northwest of Rose Island when one of them -- a 58-year-old unnamed woman -- was attacked by a bull shark shortly before 3 p.m. local time, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Tour operators along with family members attempted to rescue the woman but were unsuccessful, police said. The victim suffered serious injuries to the left side of her body and was transported by the tour boat to nearby Fort Montagu on the eastern shore of New Providence island, where she was prounced dead by emergency medical responders, according to police.

The woman and her family had arrived in the Bahamas on Tuesday morning via Royal Caribbean's cruise ship Harmony of the Seas, police said.

Royal Caribbean confirmed in a statement that the woman was a guest on the seven-night cruise, which sailed from Port Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday.

She was on an "independent shore excursion" in Nassau when attacked by a shark and succumbed to her injuries at a local hospital, according to the Miami-based cruise line.

"Royal Caribbean is providing support and assistance to the guest's loved ones during this difficult time," the company said in the statement Tuesday.

In June 2019, an American tourist snorkeling off Rose Island was killed in a shark attack. The victim, 21-year-old Loyola-Marymount University student Jordan Lindsey, died after a school of sharks attacked her.

ABC News' Mina Kaji contributed to this report.