A tourist has been killed following a shark attack off the coast of Egypt, while another has been left injured, according to officials.
Egypt’s environment ministry released a statement on Sunday’s (29 December) horrific incident, which saw the resort town of Marsa Alam in eastern Egypt witness its first shark attack since 2020.
They said: “Two foreigners were attacked by a shark in the northern Marsa Alam area, which led to the injury of one and the death of the other.”
In ‘deep waters outside of the designated swimming area’, the attack took place involving two tourists, who have been identified as Italian nationals by the BBC via AFP.
The shark attack resulted in the death of a tourist (Getty Stock Photo)
It is believed that the man who died was 48 years old, and was a resident of Rome, while AFP stated that the injured man is 69-years-old.
It was reported by Egyptian officials that the pair were taken to a hospital in Port Ghalib, located 30 miles north of Marsa Alam.
The resort town’s swimming area has now been closed, as the incident is currently under investigation by authorities.
Marsa Alam is a popular tourist destination (Getty Stock Photo)
Swimming out from the jetties is now prohibited for two days from today (30 December), which is part of safety measures as a result of the incident, including warnings against swimming near piers.
The Environment Minister, Dr Yasmine Fouad, said in her statement after the attack, that she raised the state of alert in the Red Sea nature reserves after the brutal incident in the Red Sea off the northern coast of Marsa Alam.
Dr Fouad also explained that there would be the formation of an urgent committee, that would work with the Red Sea Governorate and other authorities in order to effectively investigate the incident.
They are currently assessing conditions in the area and nearby zones to ensure safety.
Though shark attacks across the world are extremely rare, the last occurrence in the Red Sea took place in June 2023 near Hurguda, Egypt, where a Russian man in his mid-20s was killed by a Tiger Shark, according to the Shark Research Institute.
The majority of sharks may not seek out humans, but the minority that have been involved in attacks leave a last impression, as five fatalities have now occurred as part of shark attacks in the area in the past decade.
A German tourist has died after being attacked by a shark while on holiday at a popular British tourist hotspot.
The 30-year-old woman, who is yet to be named in the media, was onboard a British registered pleasure boat and had been sailing off the coast of North Africa, around 300 miles southwest of Gran Canaria, near Western Sahara, The Times reports.
The boat had departed from Las Palmas (Getty Stock Images)
The woman had departed from Las Palmas in Gran Canaria on Saturday (14 September) and had been sailing south towards the coast of Western Africa.
At around 3.55pm on Monday (16 September), the crew onboard the UK registered catamaran Dalliance Chichester sent a distress message to the Spanish maritime rescue service which dispatched a rescue helicopter to their location.
Moroccan and British coastguards were also informed about the incident, due to the boat’s location and origin.
The woman was airlifted from the boat to Doctor Negrin Hospital in Las Palmas, but was unfortunately pronounced dead upon arrival.
It’s not clear how the woman came to be attacked by a shark, however it’s understood that she had lost her leg in the incident and later suffered a cardiac arrest while being transported to the hospital.
The Dalliance Chichester is reported to be a 17 metre-long, eight metre-wide pleasure craft which sails under the UK flag.
Shark attacks are rare in Gran Canaria (Getty Stock Images)
Shark attacks off the coast of the Canary Islands are understood to be rare. According to data complied by International Shark Attack File (created by the Florida Museum of Natural History) there has been six reported incidents in the Spanish territory, none of which were fatal.
However several sightings of sharks have been reported in the region across the past year, with Canarian Weekly stating that a hammerhead shark had been spotted near the shore of Las Palmas in August while the Daily Mail shared footage of a tourists running out of the water after a shark was spotted in Gran Canaria’s capital back in July.
Meanwhile there are no confirmed reports of unprovoked attacks occurring off the coast of Morocco or Western Sahara.
What to do in the event of a shark attack
According to advice from the International Shark Attack File, if you spot a shark while swimming, you should maintain eye contact with the creature and slowly move away from the scene.
If a shark attempts to bite you it is advised to fight back by targeting sensitive areas such as the shark’s eyes and gills.
Beachgoers were forced to sprint to the shoreline after a shark launched a vicious attack on its prey just metres away from throngs of tourists and locals.
People frantically fled the waters to the safety of the white-sand beach, Spratt Bight, on the Caribbean island of San Andres, north of Colombia, after the dramatic underwater brawl began on Friday (5 January).
It is a spot that is eerily close to where an Italian tourist was killed in a shark attack in March 2022, so the incident obviously sparked panic among the crowds who had been soaking up the sun.
Chilling footage shared on X shows a large shark thrashing around in the shallow water just metres away from holidaymakers and locals, while a bloke was seen swiftly exiting the ocean clutching a toddler in his arms.
People were seen beckoning their friends and loved ones who were still in the water to head to dry land as others began to film the dramatic incident unfolding on the popular beach.
A tourist worker who was riding a jet ski decided to intervene in the chaos and approached the shark in an attempt to scare it away by circling it, creating ripples in the water which would hopefully deter it from the shore.
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The dizzying tactic eventually seemed to do the trick, as the shark moved away from the coastline and further out to sea.
It later emerged that the marine animal, described locally as a hammerhead shark, had been tussling with a manta ray in the water.
The bloke on the jet ski was later criticised by San Andres’ sustainable development organisation, Coralina, which said there was no real cause for concern while also urging calm among the community.
It said: “They are hammerhead sharks hunting manta rays, they’re part of their diet. Humans are not part of the diet of sharks and even less so with this type of shark, so what people need to do is be careful.
“Sharks are a fundamental part of trophic networks.”
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Marine biology expert Sandra Escobar added: “The important thing is that these incidents not lead to people attacking sharks and regarding them as enemies.”
It is believed that beachgoers were immediately panicked on Friday due to the proximity of Spratt Bight to the popular snorkelling area of La Piscinita, where Antonio Straccialini, 56, was tragically killed after a shark attack.
The Italian tourist was bitten by an eight-foot shark while swimming in the water and lost a large chunk of his right thigh, before he sadly went into hypovolemic shock and passed away due to the severe blood loss he suffered.
The incident, which occurred on 12 March, 2022, was described as a first for the area at the time, with an island government spokesman saying: “There are diving programmes with professionals in which sharks pass nearby, but nothing has ever happened.”
It is thought that a tiger shark was responsible for the deadly attack which took place nearly two years ago.
Colombian free diver Cristian Castano was then bitten by a shark off the coast of San Andres in July last year, but survived despite a grisly injury.
A British tourist that was left in critical condition following a shark attack is now ‘able to communicate’, his wife says.
Peter Smith, 64, was in the island of Tobago in the Caribbean, when he was attacked by a shark just 10 metres from shore at Turtle Beach.
The Brit was immediately taken to Scarborough General Hospital following the incident, and had a severed thigh and hand as well as a laceration on his stomach.
This was followed by the immediate closure of beaches on the northwestern coast of the island, with witnesses claiming that they saw a bull shark, which can be up to 10 feet long.
The Tobago House of Assembly later confirmed this, saying they can be up to two feet wide, as its chief secretary, Farley Augustine, said that Mr Smith had to have fingers reattached after the attached following the incident, as well as ‘significant wounds’ to one of his legs.
Smith was with his wife Jo and friends when he was attacked, with Mrs Smith revealing that two of their friends stayed in the sea to ‘battle’ the sea predator.
Two of their friends stayed in the water to ‘battle’ the shark, Mrs Smith says. (Getty Stock Photo)
She also revealed that her husband is in stable condition while undergoing intensive care at the island’s Scarborough General Hospital, where he is stable, telling the BBC: “Peter has suffered damage to his left arm and leg, puncture wounds to the abdomen and injuries to his right hand, the full extent of which are still being evaluated.”
The only thing left now is for hospital medics to decide on the ‘future course of treatment’.
Mrs Smith further explained: “As of 09:00 local time today, Peter is aware of what is happening and is able to communicate a little, although he is still under strong medication.”
She offered thanks to ‘all those that assisted at the scene, and especially the two friends that remained in the water to battle the shark’.
Mrs Smith also thanked ‘the wonderfully kind people of Tobago for all their help and support’.
Eyewitness Orion Jakerov explained that other people in the water were ‘physically trying to fight off the shark’.
“I don’t think they saw it. They were about waist height in the water so they weren’t out of their depth,” he told local broadcaster TTT Live.
Many beachgoers had attempted to fight the shark, an eyewitness said. (Stephen Frink/Getty Images)
“I think their backs were turned and they were just kind of lounging around. Nobody saw the shark coming.”
Meanwhile Stephanie Wright, from West Sussex, told The Sun: “We saw some people on the beach, and I originally thought the gentleman had had a cardiac arrest, and I thought they were helping him.
“And then I saw someone running down with a towel, and then I saw a dorsal fin come out of the water and thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s a shark.’
“As it turned, I saw the tail come out as well. As it swam off.”
The government has said that there have been shark sightings in both the Grafton area of the region and in the Buccoo Reef Marine Park and closing the beaches will allow the Coast Guard and Department of Fisheries to investigate the sightings.
The government had also offered a bounty of $10,000 for the shark, but have since retracted the offer.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of an injured British man in Tobago and are in contact with the local authorities.”