A Russian man has died after being mauled by a shark off one of Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, Egyptian and Russian authorities have said. The incident occurred on Thursday in the waters near the city of Hurghada.
Egypt’s environment ministry said the man was killed after being attacked by a tiger shark. Authorities closed off a 46-mile (74km) stretch of the coastline, announcing it would remain off-limits until Sunday.
Details of the Attack
The Russian consulate in Hurghada identified the man as a Russian citizen but did not give his name. Russia’s Tass state news agency said the person killed was a Russian man born in 1999 who lived in Egypt full-time and was not a tourist.
A video circulating online, purportedly of the attack, shows a man thrashing about in the water before being repeatedly attacked by a shark circling around him, then being dragged under. A diver who arrived on the scene just after the attack said people had rushed to help the victim after a lifeguard from a nearby hotel raised the alarm, but were not able to reach him in time.
Aftermath and Investigation
The ministry later said it had caught the shark and was examining it in a laboratory to try and determine the reasons for the rare attack. After his horrific death, Sky News reported that local beachgoers in Egypt drove boats out of the sea and captured in a net what they believed was the animal that killed Mr. Popov. A video captured the moment when a group of people brutally clubbed the tiger shark to death as revenge for the Russian tourist.
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The body parts of a Russian tourist who was eaten alive by a shark were recovered from inside the predator's belly after it was killed by local beachgoers, New York Post reported. After dissecting the tiger shark, specialists confirmed that the animal was the one that ate Vladimir Popov as they found his remains in its intestines, local outlet Al Arabiya reported. The outlet claimed Mr. Popov's remains, including his head and hand, were found inside the dissected slain shark.
Officials have yet to reveal if the shark that ate Mr.
Official Statements and Warnings
In a statement posted on its official channel on the Telegram messaging application, the consulate urged Russian tourists to be vigilant when in the water and to strictly adhere to any swimming bans imposed by local authorities.
Context of Shark Attacks in the Red Sea
Shark attacks are rare in the Red Sea coastal regions. However, in 2022, two fatal attacks in Hughada within days, killing an Austrian and a Romanian tourist. In 2022, however, two women - one Austrian and one Romanian - were killed within days of each other in shark attacks at Hurghada.
In 2020, a young Ukrainian boy lost an arm and an Egyptian tour guide lost a leg in a shark attack in the same region. In 2018, a Czech tourist was killed by a shark off a Red Sea beach. The killer of two female swimmers off the Egyptian coast south of Hurghada recently was a female tiger shark - according to the findings in an eight-page report issued by a committee of the Hurghada Environmental Protection & Conservation Association (HEPCA). Its conclusion comes from what are described as clear signs of bite-marks on the bodies of the two women.
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Past Incidents
- 2018: Czech tourist killed by a shark.
- 2020: Ukrainian boy lost an arm, Egyptian tour guide lost a leg.
- 2022: Two women (Austrian and Romanian) killed in separate attacks.
- Recent: Russian tourist killed by a tiger shark.
Theories on Increased Shark Activity
“I have been diving in the Red Sea for more than 13 years, and have come across beautiful tiger sharks off Rocky Island and Elphinstone reefs on two occasions. “We all know about the tragic oceanic whitetip shark incidents over the past 10 years but tiger shark attacks in the shallow coastal waters off Hurghada are rare. “The females’ mood does not usually become aggressive.
“I claimed that rising water temperatures caused the sharks’ sudden mood shifts and caused them to zig-zag vertically before attacks. Sharks need to maintain their internal temperature within a desirable range to perform at their optimum level, and behavioural thermo-regulation is an important feature in the movement of these magnificent animals.
“More accidents have been taking place in the Red Sea in recent years if we take this factor into consideration. The deaths of the two women in the bay at Sahl Hasheesh on 1 July were reported on Divernet, and one of the victims has since been named. Two weeks after the two deaths, limited diving and snorkelling activities have now resumed in the coastal area that extends from north of Dasha al-Dabaa to Ras Abu Soma in the south. Water sports other than banana boating are allowed but swimmers are expected to stay in depths of no more than 2m at lifeguard-supervised beaches.
Notably, 23-year-old Vladimir Popov was attacked in front of tourists while he was swimming at one of Egypt's Red Sea resorts in the city of Hurghada on June 8. People watched in horror as he was dragged under the water and mauled to death by the 10-foot shark. Witnesses claimed the tiger shark toyed with his body for two hours.
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Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, including Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, boast some of the country’s most renowned beach destinations and are popular with European tourists. Divers are attracted by the steep dropoffs of coral reefs just offshore, which offer a rich and colourful sea life.
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Egypt has in recent years sought to revive the vital tourism sector, hurt by years of political instability, the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Tiger sharks are large species that reside in tropical and temperate waters.
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