A second woman died in a day on the Red Sea near the main Egyptian resort of Hurghada: both tourists were killed by sharks. The Egyptian authorities have urgently formed a working group of specialists from the Red Sea reserves to establish whether the female tourists died as a result of the attack of the same shark or different ones.
They have to find and catch, as well as find out the reason for such aggression. It should be noted that shark attacks on people are extremely rare in Hurghada, while it was much more common in Sharm el-Sheikh.
So far, there is panic among tourists in Hurghada itself, and the authorities have urgently closed all beaches in the resort for at least a few days and imposed a complete ban on all tourist activities in the Red Sea, including diving, snorkeling, and windsurfing, and also prohibited fishing.
We will remind you, that on Friday, a shark attacked a tourist who was swimming in the very south of Hurghada in the area of the Sahl Hashish Bay, right on the beach of a luxury hotel. As a result of the predator’s attack, she received terrible injuries – the shark bit off her arm and leg. 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. She was the first victim of a sea predator.
According to detailed information from the Egyptian media, a 68-year-old woman who lost a leg and an arm as a result of a shark attack died of shock and, most likely, of a heart attack. An Egyptian health official said the tourist was barely alive when she was taken to hospital on Friday and that efforts by medical staff to resuscitate her were unsuccessful. Read the details in the DIP material “In Hurghada, in front of dozens of people, a shark tore apart a tourist.”
We will remind that such cases can carry a much greater risk for tourism in Egypt than the closure of beaches. In December 2010, shark attacks on tourists nearly disrupted the high New Year 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. A German tourist also died. Then New Year’s sales of tours to Egypt fell to almost zero.