North Carolina shark attack leaves teen girl severely hurt

OAK ISLAND, NC -- A North Carolina mayor says that a teenage girl suffered severe injuries in a shark attack near a fishing pier.

Mayor Betty Wallace of Oak Island, a seaside town bordered to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, says that the teenage girl was bitten Sunday afternoon.

Wallace says the girl lost part of her left arm and may lose part of her left leg. The victim was airlifted to a nearby hospital.

Wallace said in a phone interview Sunday that she didn't have further information on the girl's prospects for recovery.

The girl was visiting the area from out of town. Further details weren't immediately available.

Wallace says she's not aware of other shark attacks in the area since she bought a home there in 1995.