Another scary shark attack happened in the Egyptian resort of Hurghada – on Friday, a shark attacked a tourist who was swimming as a result of an attack by a predator and suffered terrible injuries – the shark bit her arm and leg. The tourist died on Saturday. This eerie tragedy is very reminiscent of the beginning of the plot of the famous Hollywood horror film “Jaws”.
According to the Egyptian media, everything happened in the south of Hurghada in the area of the Sahl Hashish Bay, right on the beach of the Lukos hotel. Tourists who witnessed the event said that the shark was probably attracted by the huge number of fish. When attacked by a predator, tourists promptly got out of the water and tried to distract the shark from its prey. Also, according to them, the rescue services acted too slowly.
The victim was taken to the hospital, but it was too late: according to Egyptian media, the woman died from her injuries. They also specified that the deceased was a tourist from the EU, a citizen of Austria.
We will remind you that the last scary adventure with sharks in Egypt happened in October 2020 in the area of the famous Ras Mohammed marine reserve, which is near the southernmost tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The shark attacked tourists who were engaged in snorkeling, that is, swimming with a mask and snorkel. One of them, a twelve-year-old teenager, lost his hands.
According to the report of the State Agency for the Development of Tourism of Ukraine, the victims were Ukrainian travelers, the tourists were vacationing with the tickets of the tour operator Join UP!, but the incident itself happened on a “left-wing” excursion, moreover, which violates safety rules. The incident occurred during a diving tour to Ras Mohammed Nature Reserve, where excursion boats are generally not allowed to stop.
However, problems with sharks in Egypt occur periodically. So, in August 2017, a shark attacked a tourist from Australia near the beach of Hurghada. Fortunately, a Ukrainian traveler came to her aid and helped the injured girl out of the water. Also, a case of a shark attack on a person in Egypt was recorded in 2015: while swimming, a 53-year-old tourist from Germany was attacked by a shark, biting off his foot. Unfortunately, the man then died of massive blood loss on the way to the hospital.
However, the sharks of Sharm el-Sheikh “became famous” in December 2010, when shark attacks on tourists nearly disrupted the high New Year’s tourist season. Then, three Russian tourists and one Ukrainian were injured as a result of a shark attack on people near the beaches of Sharm El Sheikh. Only one of the victims suffered minor injuries, the rest had to have their arms or legs amputated. Then New Year’s sales of tours to Egypt fell to almost zero.
Measures were also taken after the incident with the Austrian tourist. Beaches in the danger area are closed, and swimming, diving, snorkeling, and fishing are also prohibited from the Sahl Hasheesh area to Makadi Bay all weekend.