A shark attack on Egypt’s Red Sea coast killed one tourist and injured another, authorities said Sunday, with an Italian foreign ministry source identifying both as Italian nationals.
“Two foreigners were attacked by a shark in the northern area of Mars Alam, which led to the injury of one and the death of the other,” Egypt’s environment ministry said in a statement.
A source in Italy’s foreign ministry told AFP that the slain man was a 48-year-old resident of Rome. The injured man was 69 years old.
Both were taken to a hospital in Port Ghalib, about 30 miles north of Mars Alam, the Egyptian ministry said.
Authorities closed the area to swimmers two days after the incident, which the ministry said occurred in “deep water outside the designated swimming area.”
The Red Sea is a major tourist destination whose marine life is popular with divers. It is also a key employer and source of foreign currency for Egypt, a country of 107 million people trying to emerge from its worst economic crisis ever.
Last month, at least four people died when a large wave hit overturned dive boat carrying more than 30 tourists of various nationalities from Marsa Alam.
Deadly shark attacks occur almost annually in Egypt’s Red Sea, where marine experts warn that unregulated construction, overfishing and irresponsible tourism practices are contributing to changing shark ecosystems and behavior.
Tahsin Ceylan/Anadolu via Getty Images
In June 2023, a shark attack killed Russian near the resort of Hurghada on the Red Sea.
In 2022, there were two women, one Austrian and the other Romanian killed in shark attacks within a week of Egypt’s Red Sea coast.
2020 young The Ukrainian boy lost an arm, and the Egyptian tour guide lost a leg in a shark attack in the same region.
In 2018, a Czech tourist was killed by a shark on a beach on the Red Sea. A German tourist was killed in a similar attack in 2015.
Number of fatal shark attacks doubled globally in 2023, with a disproportionate number in Australia, according to the International Shark Attack File — a database of global shark attacks run by the University of Florida.
