Egypt’s environment ministry says two women have been killed in a shark attack on a resort town on Egypt’s Red Sea coast.
According to Egyptian media, the Egyptian ministry said in a statement that “two women were attacked by a shark while swimming in the coastal area south of Al-Gardaqa, as a result of which both were killed.”
The statement did not provide any details about the identities of the women killed.
But Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi had ordered the closure of all beaches in the area for three days after “the left arm of an Austrian tourist was apparently injured in a shark attack.”
Social media users shared a video whose authenticity, date and location could not be independently verified by the Media. The video showed the woman trying to bleed.
Egypt’s environment ministry said a task force was “working to determine the scientific reasons for the attack, to identify the circumstances and the reasons behind the shark’s behavior.”
Egypt’s Red Sea is a popular tourist destination where sharks are common but rarely attack people swimming in authorized areas.
In 2018, a Czech tourist was killed in a shark attack on the shores of the Red Sea, while in 2015, a German tourist was killed in a similar attack.
In 2010, a German was killed and four other foreign tourists were injured in five attacks in five days near the coast of the tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Egypt is currently struggling to cope with rising inflation and the recent depreciation of the currency.
Egypt relies heavily on tourism revenue from the Red Sea, which accounts for 65% of the country’s tourists.