A shark kills a woman and seriously wounds another swimmer at an Australia beach

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A shark killed a woman and seriously wounded a man taking an early morning swim with her at a national park beach on Australia’s east coast Thursday, police said.

The attack occurred at Crowdy Bay National Park, which is known for beach camping, fishing spots and hiking tracks 360 kilometers (224 miles) north of Sydney.

Beaches in the area and to the north of the attack were closed to swimmers indefinitely, Police Chief Insp. Timothy Bayly said.

Emergency services were called to the beach following reports that two people in their mid-20s had been bitten by a shark at 6:30 a.m., Bayly said.

Bayly declined to detail the injuries or the circumstances of the attack. “At this stage, all I’m prepared to say is they were known to each other and they were going for a swim and the shark attacked,” Bayly told reporters.

A bystander helped the pair on the beach before ambulance paramedics arrived, but the woman died at the scene.

The man was flown by helicopter to a hospital, and paramedic Josh Smyth later said the man’s condition was serious but stable.

Smyth said the bystander’s first aid might have prevented a double fatality.

“I just really need to have a shoutout to the bystander on the beach who put a makeshift tourniquet on the male’s leg which obviously potentially saved his life and allowed New South Wales Ambulance paramedics to get to him and render first aid,” Smyth told reporters.

The identities of the man and woman were not released.

Bayly said police would work with experts to determine the species of the shark responsible.

He also expected drumlines — baited hooks suspended from floats — would be deployed in an attempt to catch the shark.

A shark fatally mauled a man in his 50s off a Sydney beach in September. Two sections of the man’s surfboard were recovered from the scene at Long Reef Beach.