A Russian man was killed on Thursday after being attacked by a tiger shark off the coast of Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Hurghada, authorities said.

Details of the Attack

“An attack by a tiger shark on a beachgoer … led to his death,” Egypt’s Environment Ministry posted on Facebook without further details.

Authorities closed off a 74-kilometer (46-mile) stretch of the coastline, announcing it will remain off-limits until Sunday.

Russian media said the victim was a Russian national in his 20s, and a video circulated on social media appeared to show the incident.

Confirmation of the Victim’s Identity

Russian Consul-General Viktor Voropayev told the state-owned TASS news agency that the Egyptian authorities had confirmed the death of the Russian national born in 1999.

“The victim was not a tourist but a permanent resident of Egypt,” Voropayev told the news agency.

Video of the Attack

A video circulating online, purportedly of the attack, shows a man thrashing about in the water before being repeatedly attacked by a shark circling him, then dragged under.

Shark Capture and Water Activity Suspension

Egypt’s Environment Ministry said a team had captured the shark “to inspect it,” saying it had displayed “abnormal behavior … resulting in the incident.”

It said water activities would be suspended for two days starting on Friday, pointing to previous attacks on people by the same type of shark.

Tourism and Shark Attacks in Egypt

The Red Sea is a popular tourist destination where sharks are common but rarely attack people who swim within authorized areas.

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 drop-offs of offshore coral reefs, which offer rich and colorful sea life.

Last July, two women, an Austrian and a Romanian, were killed in a shark attack near Hurghada.

In 2018, a Czech tourist was killed by a shark off a Red Sea beach after a similar attack killed a German tourist in 2015.

In 2010, a spate of five attacks in five days unusually close to the shore of tourist hotspot Sharm el-Sheikh killed one German and injured four other foreign tourists.

In recent years, Egypt has sought to revive the vital tourism sector, hurt by years of political instability, the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

About Tiger Sharks

Tiger sharks are large species residing in tropical and temperate waters and are among the sharks most cited by the International Shark Attack File for unprovoked human attacks.