Egypt: Russian national killed by shark in the Red Sea

A Russian man has died following a shark attack in the Red Sea on Thursday, Egyptian authorities said.

The incident happened off the Egyptian city of Hurghada. The victim was a man in his twenties who was a permanent resident of Egypt, Russian Consul General Viktor Voropayev told Russia's official TASS news agency.

"The victim was not a tourist but a permanent resident in Egypt," he told the agency.

A video shared on social media thought to be showing the incident saw a person struggling to escape a shark. 

MEE could not independently verify the footage. 

Egypt's environment ministry said the shark was captured and its examination revealed "abnormal behavior... which caused the incident".

It added that swimming and water games would be suspended for two days from Friday.

Egypt on alert after shark attacks in Red Sea

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Shark attacks in Egypt, where the Red Sea is an important tourist destination, are rare. 

However, incidents in the past decade have caused panic and made tourists desert some of the beaches where such attacks have happened. 

In July 2022, two tourists, an Austrian and a Romanian, were killed by a shark near Hurghada.

Following that attack, officials took a series of measures to protect tourists, including the distribution of written guidance about the things swimmers and divers should not do while in the sea to avoid provoking attacks from sharks. 

The authorities advised tourists to refrain from throwing food or wearing perfumes while swimming, a town official told Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity at the time.

In December 2010, four tourists were injured in an attack by a shark in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.