Shark attack in Egypt claims the life of Russian citizen

A Russian citizen was killed in a shark attack near a beach at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada, Russia's Consulate General in the city and two Egyptian security sources said on Thursday.

Egypt's Environment Ministry said in a statement posted on Facebook that a tiger shark was responsible for the death of a beachgoer, without giving details of the victim.

Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, order a team to capture the shark, the statement said, adding that local authorities had issued a two-day ban on swimming, snorkeling and other water sports activities on several beaches near the attack site.

The team was able to capture the Tiger shark "to examine it to find out the possible reasons for its attack and to indicate whether is it the same fish that has caused previous accidents."

A shark fin is seen above the water during a shark attack in Hurghada, Egypt June 8, 2023, in this still image obtained from a social media video (credit: Grigory Kataev/via REUTERS)

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.

Russia's TASS news agency said the person killed was a Russian man born in 1999 who lived in Egypt full-time and was not a tourist.

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.

According to CNN, there have been similar incidents in the Egyptian Red Sea.

In 2022, Egypt's Red Sea Governorate issued an order to shut down several Red Sea beaches after a 68-year-old Austrian woman was killed in a shark attack, off the coast of Sahl Hasheesh, according to two Egyptian security sources.

There were attempts to resuscitate her, but she died due to circulatory failure, which is a sudden drop in blood pressure resulting from her injuries and blood loss, according to a statement that Reuters got from the Red Sea Health Affairs Directorate.

A second body of a Romanian tourist in her late 40s was discovered hours after the attack on the Austrian woman. Both attacks happened within 600 meters of each other.