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Hurghada: Two women killed after shark attacks

2022-07-03T17:04:06.140Z


Hurghada is bustling with vacationers all year round. Shark incidents are rare. But now two women die after shark attacks. Tourists follow dramatic scenes from the beach.


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Hurghada Beach

Photo: Marcel Lauck / dpa

Not far from the Egyptian seaside resort of Hurghada, an Austrian and another woman died in a shark attack.

A shark approached the 68-year-old Austrian while she was swimming, the German press agency learned from medical circles in Hurghada late on Saturday evening.

She went into shock and died in hospital.

The Russian agency Ria Novosti reported that the woman lost an arm and a leg in the attack.

A little later it became known: A second woman also died after a shark attack – apparently by the same animal.

This was announced by the Ministry of the Environment in Cairo on Sunday.

Environment Minister Jasmin Fuad expresses her condolences to the families of the two victims.

The ministry did not initially give details of the second fatality and the course of the incident.

The beach has been closed for the time being.

The Austrian Foreign Ministry in Vienna confirmed the death of an Austrian.

According to medical sources, she was married to an Egyptian and lived in Hurghada on the Red Sea.

Tourists watched the tragic scenes from the beach and from a jetty.

A video shows the woman trying to get to safety in red-colored water.

Meanwhile, men from the jetty try to pull her out of the water with a rope.

Beach closed for three days

The incident happened in a bay south of Hurghada.

The beach was closed for three days.

The Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS) informed its members of the sighting of a mako shark in the area following the incident.

Water sports such as diving, snorkeling, kitesurfing and windsurfing are not permitted in the area during this time, it said.

Mako sharks can reach speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour.

When fully grown, they can be over 4 meters long and weigh over 500 kilograms.

Hammerheads, oceanic whitetips, silky sharks and other species also live in the Red Sea.

The Red Sea is a popular destination for divers, among others.

Shark attacks are actually exceptional there.

However, deadly attacks have occasionally occurred here as well.

In 2018, a tourist from the Czech Republic died after a shark attack, as did a German in 2015 and a German pensioner in 2010.

The animals may be attracted by rubbish or by - actually forbidden - food and bait from excursion boats.

For dive operators who also offer dives to see sharks, the predatory fish are an important source of income.

According to Mahmoud al-Hanafi, a professor of marine biology at Suez Canal University, a shark with a lifespan of 20 years can be worth up to four million dollars in economic terms.

Feeding sharks or baiting them with raw meat is prohibited

dop/dpa

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2022-07-03

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