Egypt. Two women killed by a shark in the Red Sea

Two women, including an Austrian woman, have been killed by a shark near the Red Sea city of Hurghada, according to Vienna, with several beaches closed following the incident, Egyptian authorities said on Sunday.

“Two women were attacked by a shark while swimming in Sahel Hachich region, south of Hurghada.The Ministry of Environment of Egypt informed about it, adding that an investigation has been started. “Any activity is prohibited for three daysOn the beaches south of Hurghada in southeast Egypt, the governor of this Red Sea region, Amr Hanafi, said on Friday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria confirmed to AFP.The death of an Austrian citizen in Egypt“Without other details. The governor’s order states that “An Austrian tourist whose left arm was torn offby the shark. According to the Austrian APA news agency, the murdered man, who was originally from the western region of Tyrol, was 68 years old and had been vacationing in Egypt with his Egyptian companion since the beginning of June.

a swimmer in trouble

Many social media users shared a video, which AFP could not verify the authenticity, date or location, of a swimmer in distress before a pool of blood appeared around him. Sharks in the Red Sea very rarely attack swimmers unless they exceed the permitted limits.

In 2018, a Czech tourist was killed by a shark on one of the Egyptian Red Sea beaches, as was a German in 2015, and in 2010 a German woman died and four other tourists were seriously injured in a shark attack at Sharm El-Beach. Sheikh, the most famous of Egypt’s beach resorts.

Caught between inflation and devaluation, Egypt relies heavily on its Red Sea shores, which receive 65% of the country’s tourists. Egyptian tourism is struggling to recover from a decade of political upheaval as “revolutionwho overthrew autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and the Covid-19 pandemic.