30-year-old woman killed in shark attack off coast of popular British holiday hotspot

A German tourist has died after being attacked by a shark while on holiday at a popular British tourist hotspot.

The 30-year-old woman, who is yet to be named in the media, was onboard a British registered pleasure boat and had been sailing off the coast of North Africa, around 300 miles southwest of Gran Canaria, near Western Sahara, The Times reports.

The boat had departed from Las Palmas (Getty Stock Images)

The woman had departed from Las Palmas in Gran Canaria on Saturday (14 September) and had been sailing south towards the coast of Western Africa.

At around 3.55pm on Monday (16 September), the crew onboard the UK registered catamaran Dalliance Chichester sent a distress message to the Spanish maritime rescue service which dispatched a rescue helicopter to their location.

Moroccan and British coastguards were also informed about the incident, due to the boat's location and origin.

The woman was airlifted from the boat to Doctor Negrin Hospital in Las Palmas, but was unfortunately pronounced dead upon arrival.

It's not clear how the woman came to be attacked by a shark, however it's understood that she had lost her leg in the incident and later suffered a cardiac arrest while being transported to the hospital.

The Dalliance Chichester is reported to be a 17 metre-long, eight metre-wide pleasure craft which sails under the UK flag.

Shark attacks are rare in Gran Canaria (Getty Stock Images)

Shark attacks off the coast of the Canary Islands are understood to be rare. According to data complied by International Shark Attack File (created by the Florida Museum of Natural History) there has been six reported incidents in the Spanish territory, none of which were fatal.

However several sightings of sharks have been reported in the region across the past year, with Canarian Weekly stating that a hammerhead shark had been spotted near the shore of Las Palmas in August while the Daily Mail shared footage of a tourists running out of the water after a shark was spotted in Gran Canaria's capital back in July.

Meanwhile there are no confirmed reports of unprovoked attacks occurring off the coast of Morocco or Western Sahara.

What to do in the event of a shark attack

According to advice from the International Shark Attack File, if you spot a shark while swimming, you should maintain eye contact with the creature and slowly move away from the scene.

If a shark attempts to bite you it is advised to fight back by targeting sensitive areas such as the shark's eyes and gills.