A 15-year-old girl has lost her leg in a shark attack during a vacation diving excursion in Central America.
American Sofia Carlson was on a diving excursion with Belize Dive Pro in the Gulf of Honduras when the attack occurred, according to ABC News and local outlets Channel 5 News and 7 News Belize.
The Belize Coast Guard told ABC News that the incident happened on the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 6, during an expedition to the Lighthouse Reef.
“It was her right leg that received a bite from the shark,” Admiral Elton Bennett of the Belize Coast Guard said of the teenager, per ABC News. “So, she lost her right leg.”
Admiral Bennett said Carlson was airlifted to a local hospital after being pulled from the water by tour operators and taken to a Coast Guard base.
getty
“She’s stable and she’s recovering at this time,” Admiral Bennett told the outlet on Thursday, Aug. 9.
Local Belize officials said shark attacks are not common in their waters.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“One of the most important things I want to share right now is that we are being informed that the victim is okay, is alive, made it,” Belize’s Minister of the Blue Economy Andre Perez told reporters, per Channel 5 News and 7 News Belize.
“What is the magnitude of the damage, we don’t know as yet, but it’s certainly an unfortunate situation. We’re very saddened about it, but I want to highlight that this is something that is very rare and I don’t think this is a time to say, well, you know, we don’t want to go swimming again or something. There must be some other reason why that happened, but it’s too early to say right now.”
A spokesperson for Belize Dive Pro did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Belize Coast Guard and the Government of Belize of Press Office for additional information.
