An American woman was killed by a shark while kayaking in the Bahamas

A 44-year-old American woman was killed by a shark on Monday in the Bahamas while she was kayaking off the beach of a resort, Bahamas police said in a statement.

“The victim, accompanied by a man, was surfing off the beach of a resort west of New Providence when he was bitten by a shark,” the news release said.

A marine rescuer from the hotel center returned the woman and man in question to the beach before administering first aid, according to the same source.

Police said an investigation has been opened.

Tourism is a key component of the economy of The Bahamas, an archipelago of more than 3,000 islands where beachfront hotel complexes abound.

In the Bahamas, 33 unprovoked shark attacks have been recorded since 1580, according to the International Shark Attack File, a database maintained by the US Florida Museum of Natural History.

Last year, 89 shark bites were recorded worldwide, according to the same database.

In 2019, an American woman visiting the country was also killed by a shark while diving with her family.