A tourist has been killed and another injured in a horrific shark attack in the sea near a popular holiday resort in Egypt.
The country’s environment ministry confirmed the attack on Sunday (December 29) in waters around the Marsa Alam resort in the Red Sea.
News agency AFP reported that the man who died was aged 48 while the second victim was a man aged 69. Authorities in Egypt haven’t revealed the men’s nationalities, but Italian media has reported both were Italians.
Italian media has identified the man who died as EU diplomat Gianluca Di Gioia from Rome. Corriere della Sera reports he was snorkelling 50 metres from shore when the attack happened.
The authorities in Egypt said the attack took place in “deep waters” which fell outside a designated swimming area. The stretch where it happened was temporarily closed to the public.
Both men were rushed from Marsa Alam to a hospital in Port Ghalib, about 40 miles north of the resort on the Red Sea.
There have been four fatal shark attacks in the Red Sea over the last 10 years, according to data collected by the Shark Research Institute, cited by the BBC.
Russian national Vladimir Popov, 23, was killed by a tiger shark in waters near Hurghada, north of Marsa Alam, on June 9 last year.
Four people died when a boat capsized in a separate incident in November. The vessel hit trouble near Marsa Alam as it ferried tourists on a diving trip.