A shark has bitten a tourist in the sea at the popular Egyptian resort of Hurghada, Russian Consulate General told RIA Novosti.
A woman tourist suffered a shark bite in the Sahl Hasheesh area, and the shark bit off her arm and leg. She is not a citizen of Russia, the diplomatic mission said.
Later it became known that an Austrian citizen was injured. The tourist was rushed to the hospital, but the doctors could not save her life.
What exactly caused the attack and whether someone else suffered from the shark has not yet been reported.
Due to the bloody incident, swimming, diving, snorkelling and fishing in Hurghada from the Sahl Hasheesh area to Makadi Bay are prohibited for three days. These are very popular places for recreation, including among Belarusian tourists. There are dozens of hotels there.
RIA Novosti does not have an official comment from the Egyptian authorities.
Cases of shark attacks on tourists in Egypt
As a rule, tour operators tell tourists that sharks have not attacked anyone in Egypt for a long time, but this is not entirely true. In the past five years alone, there have been several similar incidents at once.
In October 2020, a family of Ukrainian tourists became the victim. Moreover, everything happened in another popular resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. A mother and child were swimming near the reefs and stumbled upon a long-winged shark. The boy was the hardest hit; he eventually had to amputate his arm.
In August 2018, a Czech citizen died after a shark attack. He was vacationing with his family in Marsa Alam. At some point, the man decided to take a dip in the sea near the hotel. The shark appeared suddenly, and the tourist tried to swim towards the land – but it was too late. He died in front of his family.
In August 2017, in the same place, in Marsa Alam, a girl from Austria, who was snorkelling on reefs, was injured. After the shark attack, the tourist survived a leg injury.