SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - An Australian woman suffered massive blood loss and was airlifted to hospital Saturday after being savaged by a shark off an island on the Great Barrier Reef, officials said.

The 60-year-old was dragged under the water by the shark near Dent Island on the popular Whitsundays around lunchtime, losing several litres of blood from deep leg wounds, the Queensland helicopter rescue service said.

"She has severe lacerations to her buttocks," a Queensland government spokeswoman said, adding that the victim's condition was "serious".

The woman was taken by dive boat to nearby Hamilton Island for an emergency blood transfusion before being airlifted to the Australian mainland for treatment, the spokeswoman added.

It is the second shark attack in Australia in a week, after a man was bitten whilst surfing with his young son by a normally timid wobbegong, or carpet shark, on Thursday. He was left with a tooth fragment in a leg.

According to records, 194 people have been killed by sharks in Australia over the past two centuries, but researchers point out that more people die from bee stings and lightning strikes.