A Russian man has died after being attacked by a shark off the coast of Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Hurghada, officials have said.
The Ministry of Environment said that the man was killed after being mauled by a tiger shark in the waters near Hurghada on Thursday.
The authorities have closed off a 74-kilometre (46-mile) stretch of the coastline, and announced that it will remain off limits with a ban on swimming, snorkelling and other water sports activities until Sunday.
“An attack by a tiger shark on a beachgoer led to his death,” the ministry posted on Facebook, without providing further details.
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, and then being dragged under.
The ministry however, later said it had caught the shark and was examining it in a laboratory to try and determine the reasons for the rare attack.
The Russian Consulate in Hurghada identified the man as a Russian citizen but did not give his name.
Russian Consul-General Viktor Voropayev told state-owned TASS news agency that the Egyptian authorities had confirmed to him the death of the Russian national who was born in 1999.
“The victim was not a tourist, but a permanent resident of Egypt,” Voropayev told the news agency.
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.
Chioma Kalu
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