About 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Hyde County EMS, National Park Service and Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department personnel responded to Ramp 72 on Ocracoke Island for a shark bite, according to a news release issued by Hyde County.

Bystanders described what appeared to be a shark attacking a child in the South Point area, according Brian Carter, deputy director of Hyde County Emergency Services.

Carter said the 5-year-old female patient was flown by EastCare to Pitt County Memorial Hospital. The girl, bitten on her lower right leg and foot, was in critical condition Wednesday morning.