Two of the victims were teenagers, authorities said.
Three swimmers, including two teenagers, were attacked by sharks in two separate incidents while on beaches in Walton County, Florida, on Friday, authorities said.
A 45-year-old woman was swimming just past a sandbar with her husband at Watersound Beach when she was bitten by a shark around 1:20 p.m., South Walton Fire District Chief Ryan Crawford told reporters.
The unidentified woman suffered “significant trauma” to the middle of her body and part of her left arm had to be amputated, Crawford said. She was transported to HCA Fort Walton-Destin Hospital in critical condition.
About 90 minutes later, near Seacrest Beach, just four miles from Watersound Beach, a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl were with a group of friends near the first sandbar in the waist-deep in water when they were injured by a shark, according to Crawford.
One victim was bitten by a shark and suffered “serious injuries” and was evacuated to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola Hospital in critical condition, Crawford said.
The second victim suffered bodily injuries to his foot and was transported to Ascension Bay Medical Center in stable condition.
Walton County Sheriff Michael A. Adkinson, Jr. told reporters that authorities ordered the beaches closed after the first incident, but the order was not fully activated in time before the teenagers are not attacked.
Officials also said the process of changing beach warning flags along the coastline would have taken about an hour and a half.
Sheriff Adkinson Jr. said the last shark attack in the county was in 2021 and the last shark-related death was in 2005.
“It’s an anomaly…from there being three victims to there being one,” the sheriff said. “All we can do is respond by controlling and mitigating what we can.”
Walton County authorities contacted ocean wildlife experts from Mote Marine in Pensacola, Fla., to help investigate the incident, Sheriff Adkinson Jr. said.