Key Points

Emergency services were called to Thursday Island off the north coast of the Australian state of Queensland around 6:20 pm local time on Saturday following reports that a male aged in his mid-teens had been attacked by a shark while swimming, Xinhua news agency reported.

The teenager was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening abdominal injuries before being airlifted over 1,000 kilometres to a hospital in the Queensland city of Townsville.

A spokesperson for Queensland Health said that the boy remained in a critical condition on Sunday morning.

The species of shark involved in the attack has not been identified.

On September 6, a surfer died after being attacked by a shark at a beach in northern Sydney.

A police statement said that emergency services were called to reports that a man had been critically injured at Long Reef Beach, 16 km northeast of central Sydney.

He was retrieved from the water and brought to shore, but died at the scene.

Police said the man was bitten by what is believed to have been a large shark.

Two sections of a surfboard were recovered and have been sent for examination.

Earlier in March, a woman sustained severe leg injuries following a shark attack at a Sydney beach.

Police in Australia's state of New South Wales (NSW) said in a statement that a woman was pulled from a beach following a shark attack in Sydney's south.

Emergency services were called to Gunyah Beach, over 50 km south of Sydney city centre, following reports of a shark attack.

A woman, believed to be aged in her 30s, was treated by NSW Ambulance at the scene for serious leg injuries.

- IANS