POLICE have launched an investigation into a brutal shark attack that left a man fighting for his life after his leg was all but ripped off.
The tourist, 31, from Alicante in Spain, had been on his honeymoon with his new wife when he swam through a stretch of water known as “shark alley”.
He suffered severe blood loss when his leg was “stripped of flesh”.
After being pulled from the water, he was airlifted to hospital where his leg was later amputated, due to the “deep lacerations” left by the creature.
In a public statement, the Maldives Police Service said the man would receive “all the necessary assistance” to aid his recovery.
The investigation aims to clarify the cause of the savage ordeal.
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The couple had been on a water excursion when the vicious beast attacked the man.
He had married his wife – from Castellon – just weeks prior to their trip.
Police have emphasised that they are working closely with local agencies to make sure the man receives “all the necessary assistance”.
He remains in hospital in a critical condition.
According to the couple’s family, the tour company that was guiding the water excursion had acted recklessly, El Periodico Mediterraneo reported.
They said the young woman had already filed a complaint of serious negligence against the company with the Maldivian authorities.
On Wednesday, a family member of the man’s wife told the Spanish media outlet: “With one bite, it took all the flesh from the knee down off her husband’s leg.”
Another close friend said: “They are trying to save him, he’s in intensive care, but the medical conditions there are very precarious.”
The pair had travelled to the Indian Ocean paradise for their first holiday together as man and wife.
The horror incident is understood to have happened on Monday afternoon off Kooddoo, one of the inhabited islands of Gaafu Alif Atoll.
The victim was reportedly part of a group that entered the water at a popular site near the Kooddoo fish processing plant, a location known for high shark activity.
The Sun understands the man was rushed to the Ga. Atoll Hospital before being airlifted to Male, the densely-populated capital of the Maldives.
The island is popular among honeymooners but is also famous for large schools of Spinner sharks.
The involvement of a Bull shark has also not been ruled out.
Local reports claim the Kooddoo facility had not dumped fish waste for around a week which sharks often feed on.
“The sharks were likely in a heightened state of hunger and anticipation,” a source told local media.
“When the group jumped in, the entry itself may have triggered a predatory response.”
