An elderly woman falls into a lake in Florida and is killed by two alligators before she can escape

An elderly woman was killed by two alligators who grabbed her before she could get out of a Florida lake she fell into while walking near her home.

Authorities say the victim was attacked by the two reptiles in Sarasota County Friday night while walking at Boca Royale Golf and Country Club in Englewood.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office says the woman, whose name has not been released, was seen falling into the lake and “struggling to stay afloat.”

“While in the water, two alligators were observed near the victim and eventually grabbed her while she was in the water,” SCSO said in a statement.

Authorities say the woman was pronounced dead at the scene and that two alligators, one 8 feet 10 inches and the other 7 feet 7 inches, were captured and removed from the lake by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trappers .

This is the latest in a series of alligator attacks in the US this summer.

In May, the body of Sean McGuinness, 47, was found without three limbs in a lake at a park in Largo, Florida.

Investigators believe he was attacked when he entered the lake at John S Taylor Park to try to retrieve Frisbees that had landed there from a nearby disc golf course to resell.

Park bosses told investigators the victim was known to have entered the lake despite “No Swimming” signs posted there.

File photo of two American alligators

(Getty Images)

Then on June 24, an 11-foot alligator grabbed and killed a victim in a lake at the Myrtle Beach Golf and Yacht Club in South Carolina.

Despite the recent incidents, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission says the chance of being bitten by an alligator in Florida remains very low.

In 2021, the commission said there were an average of eight unprovoked bites a year in the state that required medical attention over the past decade.

“The likelihood of a Florida resident being seriously injured during an unprovoked alligator incident in Florida is approximately only one in 3.1 million,” the commission said.

And the data shows that between 1948 and 2021, only 26 people were killed by alligators in Florida.