A 9-year-old American boy was airlifted from the Bahamas to South Florida after he was seriously injured in a dog attack on a beach in Bimini, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
The incident took place Tuesday morning in Alice Town in northern Bimini, a chain of islands that is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland U.S.
Alice Town Police received a call from a woman just before 10:30 a.m. about a young boy who had been attacked by several dogs on the beach, according to Royal Bahamas Police.
The child had walked to the beach from a nearby apartment where he was staying to collect sand when the dogs reportedly pounced, police said.
An unidentified man intervened and chased the dogs away before leaving the area, according to police.
The child was then able to return to the apartment and alert his mother.
The child was taken to a local hospital and treated for wounds to his right thigh, right arm, left leg, face and head.
Local medical personnel classified the injuries as “life-threatening” and the child, accompanied by his father, was airlifted to Miami by the U.S. Coast Guard for additional treatment.
Doctors and nurses at Jackson Memorial Hospital have been caring for the child, where he has reportedly undergone several hours of surgery.
Video shared by the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast shows Air Station Miami crews removing a gurney from the plane and taking it to a waiting ambulance.
The boy’s condition has not been made public.
Superintendent Nicolas Johnson, officer in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department in Grand Bahama, said one person is assisting police with the investigation, but declined to say whether charges are expected.
Authorities in the Bahamas have identified the owner of the dogs and said he is assisting officers in “locating, securing and removing the animals.”
In the viral moment that has unfolded across news coverage,
the incident took place Tuesday morning in Alice Town in northern Bimini
, when
the child had walked to the beach from a nearby apartment where he was staying to collect sand when the dogs reportedly pounced
.
An unidentified man intervened and chased the dogs away before leaving the area, according to police. The child was then able to return to the apartment and alert his mother.
Officers rushed to the scene and found the boy had sustained multiple bite wounds. The child was taken to a local hospital and treated for wounds to his right thigh, right arm, left leg, face and head. Local medical personnel classified the injuries as “life-threatening” and the child, accompanied by his father, was airlifted to Miami by the U.S. Coast Guard for additional treatment.
Pet owners could face criminal charges and civil liability if their dogs attack and injure someone, police warned as investigators continued probing the mauling of a nine-year-old American boy in Bimini.