British tourist has foot bitten off in Queensland shark attack

The shark attacked two young British tourists while they snorkeled. Photo credit: File

A shark has bitten off a man's foot while he snorkelled at a popular Queensland tourist spot on Tuesday.

Two English tourists, aged 28 and 22, were snorkelling alongside a ZigZag Whitsundays tour boat near Airlie Beach in Queensland's Whitsunday Islands.

The shark reportedly went for the 28-year-old before returning to bite the second tourist. 

While the 22-year-old escaped with severe calf lacerations, the 28-year-old lost his right foot in the terrifying attack. 

First aid was administered by two international paramedics. The men were transported by a rescue helicopter to Mackay Base Hospital in a serious but stable condition, AAP reports.

It's unclear what species of shark was involved and how many others were in the water at the time.

ZigZag confirmed the injuries in a statement.

"Our thoughts are with them, their families and the other guests on the tour," they said.

The Whitsundays region has been plagued by a number of deadly shark attacks within the last year. 

In November, a 33-year-old man died from a shark attack at Cid Harbour. In two separate incidents in September last year, a 12-year-old from Victoria and a woman from Tasmanian were attacked at the harbour within a 24-hour period.

"We are going to have more and more of this happening until governments put public safety as their number one priority," Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan told AAP.

Newshub.

Contact Newshub with your story tips:
news@newshub.co.nz