American killed in shark attack while paddleboarding in Bahamas

BAHAMAS — A 44-year-old American woman was killed in a shark attack while paddleboarding near a beach resort in the Bahamas Monday, CNN reported.

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Royal Bahamas Police Force identified the woman as Lauren Erickson Van Wart of Lowell, Massachusetts, according to our sister station Boston 25 News.

She traveled to Nassau, Bahamas with a male relative for vacation. They were staying at the Sandals Royal Bahamian resort in western New Providence.

Van Wert and her relative were paddleboarding away from the shoreline at the rear of the resort when the attack occurred, Boston 25 News reported.

“A lifeguard on duty who saw what was happening…went out in a rescue boat, retrieved the victim along with a male relative and brought them to safety,” Royal Bahamas Police Force Sergeant Desiree Ferguson said.

Once they returned to the shoreline, the lifeguard administered CPR to the woman, CNN reported.

“She suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body, including the right hip region and also her right upper limb emergency medical services responded to this team,” Ferguson said.

The woman died shortly after 11 a.m. EST, CNN reported.

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A spokesperson with the U.S. State Department confirmed that a U.S. citizen died in the Bahamas.

The department offered its condolences to the person’s family and was “providing all appropriate consular assistance,” CNN reported.

This deadly shark attack comes just days after a woman was killed in an apparent shark attack at a resort on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

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