Woman dies after alligator attack while swimming with boyfriend in Florida

Three people were injured and one killed in a series of alligator attacks in Florida within the span of a week, CNN reported June 29.

Serious alligator attacks are relatively rare in Florida, but three major incidents occurred within just seven days, two of them on consecutive days, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The most recent attack took place on the Econlockhatchee River north of Orlando. A 31-year-old woman was attacked by an alligator on the afternoon of June 28 while swimming with her boyfriend, who desperately tried to pull her free from the animal's jaws. A bystander who witnessed the scene described it as "absolutely horrific."

The woman was rushed to a hospital with severe injuries to both arms but did not survive. Authorities captured two alligators at the scene — one measuring about 13 feet (4 meters) and another about 12 feet (3.7 meters) — and are investigating which one carried out the attack.

On June 27, a boy fishing with his father at a pond in Marion County was bitten on the hand by an alligator. Earlier, on June 21, a person snorkeling on the Rainbow River in the same county was also attacked. After that first incident, authorities temporarily closed the river and captured and removed the alligator involved. The roughly 8.5-foot (2.6-meter) alligator that bit the boy was also captured and euthanized.

Florida is home to an estimated 1.3 million alligators, though attacks on humans are uncommon. According to the FWC, unprovoked bites — incidents in which a person did not provoke the animal — average about eight per year.

More than 450 alligator attacks have been recorded in Florida since 1948, 30 of which proved fatal. Last year, 13 attacks occurred, two of them deadly.

Researchers from the University of Florida and Centre College in Kentucky said alligator attacks rarely occur during low-risk activities such as walking near the water or staying on land. Fatal incidents, they found, tend to be concentrated among people who engage in high-risk behavior, such as entering bodies of water where alligators live.

Experts urged people in alligator-inhabited areas like Florida to avoid swimming in rivers, lakes and wetlands, and to stay away from the water's edge at night. They said it is especially important to heed wildlife warning signs and follow official safety guidelines during breeding season, when alligators can become more aggressive.