British man injured in Tobago shark attack

A British antheral has been earnestly injured aft being attacked by a shark connected the Caribbean land of Tobago.

The 64-year-old is receiving captious attraction aft superior injuries to his near arm, near limb and stomach, according to a section official.

He said the antheral had been attacked 10 metres disconnected the enactment successful Courland Bay, connected the island's northbound coast, astatine 09:15 (14:15 BST) connected Friday.

The Foreign Office said it was supporting the victim's family.

The incidental progressive a bull shark estimated to beryllium 8 to 10 ft (2.4m to 3m) agelong and 2ft (60cm) wide, according to a connection by the Tobago House of Assembly.

In a property briefing precocious connected Friday, Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said the injured antheral was "stable and doing well", but remained successful an ICU and was being kept nether sedation.

He said the antheral had had immoderate fingers reattached but inactive had "significant wounds" to 1 of his legs and would necessitate "extensive work".

"The task astatine this clip for our wellness professionals is truly to stabilise and guarantee that we tin prevention beingness and limb arsenic overmuch arsenic possible," helium said.

Mr Augustine said the antheral had been successful Tobago with his woman and friends, and that the radical had been owed to alert location connected Friday.

He added that the section authorities was moving intimately with the British High Commission to "ensure that the household gets each that they request during this hard time".

Eyewitness Orion Jakerov, h2o sports manager astatine the adjacent Starfish Hotel, said different radical successful the h2o were "physically trying to combat disconnected the shark".

He told the section broadcaster TTT Live: "I don't deliberation they saw it. They were astir waist tallness successful the h2o truthful they weren't retired of their depth.

"I deliberation their backs were turned and they were conscionable benignant of lounging around. Nobody saw the shark coming."

Authorities closed 7 beaches and each coastal areas betwixt the municipality of Plymouth connected the island's bluish seashore and Store Bay connected its occidental tip, a agelong of astir 7 miles (11.3km).

The agelong besides includes a marine parkland surrounding the Bucco Reef, 1 of the island's largest coral reefs and a fashionable tourer attraction.

Drones were being utilized to transportation retired surveillance of the area, and anyone operating a vessel was urged to workout caution.

Officials said the closures had been enacted "out of an abundance of caution" and would stay successful spot connected Saturday.

They besides said they would "neutralise the menace if possible".

Mr Augustine said a $10,000 (£8,010) bounty antecedently offered to anyone who could seizure the shark and determination it distant from the beaches had been retracted.

Bull sharks are known to beryllium assertive and are astir often recovered successful shallow waters on tropical coastlines, making them - on with large achromatic and tiger sharks - among the taxon astir apt to travel into interaction with, and attack, humans.

Tobago, 1 of the constituent islands of Trinidad and Tobago, is located successful the confederate Caribbean, astir 74 miles (119km) disconnected the seashore of South America.

According to the International Shark Attack File database, the immense bulk of shark attacks successful the portion hap further north, successful the cardinal Caribbean and disconnected the eastbound and confederate coasts of the US.

In the past 20 years, determination person been lone 2 recorded shark attacks arsenic acold southbound arsenic Tobago, and neither was wrong 200 miles of the land itself.