Two Russian tourists were rushed to hospital after one of them was bitten by a shark while the pair were out filming content.
Social media influencer and singer Nastya Vitonova had been out swimming with sharks off the coast in the Maldives when things took a dangerous turn as a shark bit her hand.
Vitonova initially was smiling and laughing despite the terrifying incident, seemingly in shock.
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Speaking to the camera she half smiled as she said ‘I got bitten by shark.'
However the footage also shows her hand gushing with blood as she sits on the side of her tour boat in a vast ocean in the Maldives.
A few moments later the fear began to set in and Vitonova began to cry as she worried she could end up with blood poisoning.
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Her friend and fellow influencer Isabelle Zagfarova attempted to comfort her on the boat while telling her she was bleeding rather profusely.
When asked about blood poisoning Zagfarova replied: “No, no, no, with sharks, the most important thing is that they don't bite your finger off.
“Nastya, don't worry. You won't get a blood infection.”
The tour guide then took the two Russian women to the nearest island where she was treated at a hospital.
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Her hand was then disinfected and she received stitches.
Later speaking to the camera she explained the incident. She had been in the ocean swimming among sharks before she was bitten.
She said: “A couple of seconds later, a shark bit my hand.
“It held me for two or three seconds, and all the worst scenarios started running through my head.
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“I immediately swam to the boat and did everything with a cool head, despite the panic inside.
“I had a smile and laughter for the first five minutes, but it was hysteria and a defensive reaction.”
She did add that the shark bit her to the bone but her hand is now healing and she is on the mend.
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Amazingly, similar incidents have happened in the Maldives previously.
A 44-year-old woman Elena Boyko, 44, explained how her hand was bitten as a guide urged her to swim closer to sharks on a paradise holiday in the Maldives.
She was in a group of 12 with a guide on a ‘swim with sharks’ excursion.
She told how the tour guide saw the sharks and pressured her to swim towards them for some impressive pictures, dragging her to the beasts.
Russian news outlet SHOT reported: “The Russian woman said that she did not panic and calmly bandaged her hand so as not to frighten the other vacationers.”
The attacks are believed to have been by nurse sharks.
The most common sharks encountered by tourists to the Maldives are this type as well as reef sharks, whale sharks, hammerhead sharks and tiger and bull sharks.
Gerrard Kaonga