In a tragic incident, a 26-year-old woman, identified as Maria Fernandez Martinez Jimenez, lost her life when a shark attacked her during a swim with her five-year-old daughter in Mexico. The fatal incident occurred near the beach in Melaque, where the woman, a resident of a nearby town, was swimming on a floating play platform approximately 75 feet (25 meters) from the shore.
The attack unfolded as she attempted to place her daughter on the floating platform, resulting in the shark biting off her leg. Despite the quick response of rescuers who brought the profusely bleeding woman to the beach, she succumbed to blood loss from the substantial bite wound near her hip.
Rafael Araiza, the head of the civil defense office, reported that the unfortunate incident transpired on Saturday, prompting authorities to close the beaches in Melaque and nearby Barra de Navidad for swimming as a precautionary measure. The safety of citizens became a top priority for the Cihuatlán Municipality, responsible for the Melaque beach, leading them to issue a precautionary measure against entering South Coast beaches until further notice. Collaborating with competent authorities, the municipality is actively assessing the situation and implementing necessary measures to ensure the safety of beachgoers.
While shark attacks are relatively uncommon in Mexico, this incident serves as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of marine encounters. In 2019, a US diver survived a shark bite on the forearm in Magdalena Bay off the Baja California Sur coast.
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