Brit receiving ‘critical care’ after shark attack near shore

People were 'physically trying to fight off the shark'

The 64-year-old suffered serious injuries to his left arm, left leg and stomach, according to a local official.

The attack took place 10 metres off the shore of Courland Bay, Tobago, at 09:15 (14:15BST) on Friday morning.

The Tobago House of Assembly said in a statement that a a bull shark estimated to be eight to 10 ft (2.4m to 3m) long and 2ft (60cm) wide was responsible for the attack.

The man is receiving critical care but is "stable and doing well", Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said in a press briefing late on Friday.

He is still in ICU and has been kept under sedation, the BBC reports.

Chief Secretary Augustine said the man had had some fingers reattached, but still had "significant wounds" to one of his legs and would require "extensive work".

"The task at this time for our health professionals is really to stabilise and ensure that we can save life and limb as much as possible," he said.

The man had been on holiday on the island with his wife and friends and was due to fly home on Friday.

Orion Jakerov, a water sports manager at a nearby hotel, witnessed the attack and said people went into the water to "physically fight off the shark."

He told the local broadcaster TTT Live: "I don't think they saw it. They were about waist height in the water so they weren't out of their depth.

"I think their backs were turned and they were just kind of lounging around. Nobody saw the shark coming."

Following the shark attack, authorities closed seven beaches and all coastal areas along a seven-mile stretch of shoreline.