A Russian man has died after being mauled by a shark off one of Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, Egyptian and Russian authorities have said.
Egypt’s environment ministry said the man was killed on Thursday after being attacked by a tiger shark in the waters near the city of Hurghada. Authorities closed off a 46-mile (74km) stretch of the coastline, announcing it would remain off-limits until Sunday.
The ministry later said it had caught the shark and was examining it in a laboratory to try and determine the reasons for the rare attack.
The Russian consulate in Hurghada identified the man as a Russian citizen but did not give his name. Russia’s Tass state news agency said the person killed was a Russian man born in 1999 who lived in Egypt full-time and was not a tourist.
A video circulating online, purportedly of the attack, shows a man thrashing about in the water before being repeatedly attacked by a shark circling around him, then being dragged under.
A diver who arrived on the scene just after the attack said people had rushed to help the victim after a lifeguard from a nearby hotel raised the alarm, but were not able to reach him in time.
In a statement posted on its official channel on the Telegram messaging application, the consulate urged Russian tourists to be vigilant when in the water and to strictly adhere to any swimming bans imposed by local authorities.
Shark attacks are rare in the Red Sea coastal regions. In 2022, however, two women – one Austrian and one Romanian – were killed within days of each other in shark attacks at Hurghada.
Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, including Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, boast some of the country’s most renowned beach destinations and are popular with European tourists. Divers are attracted by the steep dropoffs of coral reefs just offshore, which offer a rich and colourful sea life.
Egypt has in recent years sought to revive the vital tourism sector, hurt by years of political instability, the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Tiger sharks are large species that reside in tropical and temperate waters. They are among sharks most cited by the International Shark Attack File for unprovoked attacks on humans.
