A woman has been left seriously injured after a shark bit off both her arms off the coast of French Polynesia.

The woman, a 35-year-old French tourist, is reported have had encountered an oceanic whitetip shark off the coast of Mo’orea, north west of Tahiti on Monday.

In a statement local government officials said the incident took place “while a group of people were on a whale watching trip” in a lagoon near the pacific island.

The woman was attacked while snorkelling in the nearby waters, with local media reporting both of her arms had been torn off as well as part of her chest.

Her family, including here 6-year-old son, are believed to have been nearby during the incident.

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She was quickly taken to a nearby hotel where she received medical treatment before being airlifted to Taaone hospital on the island of Tahiti.

A witness told local media she was conscious as she arrived on the shore, asking “why did you take me there if it was not safe?”

Shark attacks in the region are extremely uncommon – with only six confirmed cases in the French province since 1580 according to the Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack File.

It is also rare to find oceanic whitetip sharks near the coast, however the endangered species is known to follow dolphin pods towards more shallow waters.

The tropical predator, which is hunted for use in shark fin soup, is listed as an endangered species on the IUCN redlist.

The High Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia said: “This is a sudden and very rare attack in French Polynesia.