SYDNEY: A young girl died after she was stung by a box jellyfish in waters off Australia's northern tip, officials said yesterday as beaches further south were reopened following the death of a woman in a horrific shark attack.

Police said the girl, aged 7, collapsed not long after swimming at Umagico Beach on Cape York Peninsula in tropical Queensland State on Sunday.

She was rushed to hospital but doctors were unable to revive her. Box jellyfish, whose tentacles can grow up to 3 metres, are common in waters off northern Australia but fatal attacks are relatively rare.

"It's a terrible, terrible tragedy that this girl has died from a stinger, but I hope that people will take this on board and realize it is a very serious issue," said Surf Life Saving national marine stinger adviser Lisa-Ann Gershwin.

"It can be easily protected against by swimming within the stinger enclosures and wearing protective clothing," she told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.

Marine biologists have predicted a dangerous jellyfish season in Queensland after a rash of stings by the smaller, but equally deadly, irukandji jellyfish. More than 20 people have been stung by irukandji since last October, authorities said.

The irukandji is the size of a thumbnail but its sting can cause excruciating muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, headaches and heart palpitations and cardiac failure. Two tourists died in 2002 after they were stung by irukandji.

Popular beaches on North Stradbroke Island, off the Queensland capital of Brisbane, reopened yesterday after a 21-year-old Australian woman was killed by what police say could have been up to three bull sharks on Saturday.

The woman, whose identity was not immediately released, died late on Saturday after being attacked near North Stradbroke Island, east of the Queensland state capital Brisbane.

Queensland state police inspector Peter Harding said officers were searching for the sharks and had closed several nearby beaches.

"If we found them (the sharks) I suppose we would try to retrieve them and see if they have any body parts," Harding said. "The idea is to retrieve what we can."

The woman was swimming with a friends from a church group in shallow water about 15 metres offshore when the shark attacked, local media reports said. The woman's dog was also in the water.

The woman was airlifted to a Brisbane hospital where she had to have both arms amputated just below the elbow, according to Queensland Rescue Helicopter spokeswoman Helen Anderson. She also suffered deep wounds to her legs and torso, Anderson said.

Harding said the severity of the woman's injuries indicated she may have been attacked by a group of bull sharks, a species known for aggressive behaviour this time of year.

Swimmers along Australia's east coast have been warned to be on shark alert.

Source: China Daily