A BOY has been rushed to hospital after a brutal shark attack at a controversial “aquarium” on the world’s most densely populated artificial island.
The 14-year-old is said to have come close to losing his hand after being bitten by the fish, thought to be a tiger shark.
A fourteen-year-old boy (not pictured) was hospitalised after a shark attack at a controversial aquarium
The scare happened during the boy’s visit to Santa Cruz de Islote, the world’s most densely populated artificial islandAlamy
The boy, who has not been named, was visiting Santa Cruz del Islote off the coast of Colombia with his family when the scare happened.
The horrifying incident unfolded inside a homemade elongated pool of fish tanks, where fee-paying tourists jump in to swim and touch the captive creatures.
Critics have long branded the unregulated attraction illegal and demanded its closure.
Locals reportedly tell visitors the sharks have had their teeth removed — but this shocking attack shows that it isn’t always the case.
The boy received emergency treatment on the island before being transferred to a hospital on Colombia’s northern Caribbean coast.
Local media, which said they had obtained images of the attack and the “very serious” injuries, declined to publish them.
The pool, which can hold up to 14 sharks at a time, is part of a guided tour that costs just £2.
It ends with a swim among the confined animals, where visitors are encouraged to snap selfies and videos.
Santa Cruz del Islote, home to around 800 people on just one hectare of land, welcomes around 500 tourists a day.
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