A US cruise ship passenger was killed by a shark while snorkeling near the Bahamas, according to local authorities, BBC News reported.

The 58-year-old woman from Pennsylvania was on an excursion near Green Cay near Nassau when the incident took place.

Police later said that the family identified the shark as a bull shark.

Bahamian police spokeswoman Chrislyn Skippings told reporters that the woman was on an excursion with a local tour company, which took her to the popular snorkeling area.

Family members and tour company staff saw her being attacked and managed to pull her from the water. A local news outlet, Eyewitness News, quoted Skippings as saying that the victim suffered wounds to her "upper extremities."

The victim was declared dead by authorities after being taken to shore.

The incident is the first fatal shark attack in the Bahamas since 2019, when a 21-year-old woman from the US state of California was attacked by sharks near Rose Island, about half a mile (0.8km) away from the latest attack.