Two people were killed in a shark attack in the Egyptian resort of Hurghada last weekend. Tourists who had to watch the drama at the scene of the accident are now raising serious allegations against the Egyptian lifeguards.
Not far from the Egyptian seaside resort of Hurghada, an Austrian and a Romanian woman died in a shark attack. A shark approached the 68-year-old Austrian while swimming. The woman, who worked as a politician for the Greens in her home country, suffered a shock and died in the hospital. The Russian agency Ria Novosti reported that she lost an arm and a leg in the attack.
The second woman apparently died after being attacked by the same shark. This was announced by the Egyptian Ministry of the Environment in Cairo. Environment Minister Jasmin Fuad expresses her condolences to the families of both victims. According to the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is a Romanian who was vacationing in Hurghada.
Now other tourists who had to watch the drama at the scene of the accident are making serious allegations against the Egyptian lifeguards. Russian vacationers reported to the British ” Daily Mail ” that the rescue workers had been warned of the sharks lurking in the water just 15 minutes before the deadly attack on the Austrian. However, those responsible are said to have only laughed at their hint. There are no sharks here and there had never been any before, the security guards on the beach at Sahl Hasheesh are said to have replied.
Another woman who lives in Hurghada accuses the rescue workers of not having acted decisively even after the shark attacks. She told the Russian newspaper Gazette.ru: “After the first victim, nobody closed the beaches anymore. I swam free… They wanted to cover it up, as always, but when word got out there were two victims, they finally moved.”
Tourists had to watch the tragic scenes of the Austrian’s agony. 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.
After the terrible shark attacks, the waters around Hurghada are now closed. The Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS) informed its members of the sighting of a mako shark in the area following the incident. 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.
Shark attacks are actually very rare in the Red Sea. However, there have also been isolated cases of deadly attacks. 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 – actually forbidden – food and bait from excursion boats.
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