6-year-old bitten in shallow water along North Carolina beach.

A 6-year-old girl remains in critical condition at North Carolina's Pitt County Memorial Hospital after she was bitten on her lower right leg and foot while swimming on an Ocracoke Island beach.

Hyde County spokeswoman Jamie Tunnel said the attack happened just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Ramp 72 near the Southern Point area on Ocracoke Island.

Witnesses say they saw what appeared to be a shark attacking the child.

The National Park Service and Ocracoke Fire Department rushed to the scene and the 6-year-old was airlifted to the hospital.

She was reportedly swimming on a boogie board in about 18 inches of water with her parents when the attack happened.