A Mexican mother is dead after a shark bit her leg over the weekend, officials said.
The incident happened Saturday a short distance from the beach in Melaque, just west of the seaport of Manzanillo, Rafael Araiza, the head of the local civil defense office, said.
The town is in the western state of Jalisco, and is located near the beach town Barra de Navidad.
The 26-year-old woman was swimming with her 5-year-old daughter toward a floating play platform about 75 feet from the shore when the shark bit her, Araiza said, according to the Associated Press.
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A great white shark swims in the waters off California. A Mexican woman was killed following a shark bite over the weekend. (Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
The daughter was not hurt.
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A Mexican flag waves in front of The National Palace in Mexico City’s main square, the Zocalo, at sunrise, April 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Great white sharks seasonally gather off the coast of Guadalupe Island. (Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
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Authorities closed the beaches in Melaque and Barra de Navidad to swimming as a precaution.
Shark attacks are relatively rare in Mexico. In 2019, a U.S. diver survived a shark bite on the forearm in Magdalena Bay off the Baja California Sur coast.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
