Shark attacks woman at Egypt's Red Sea resort, severely injuring her left arm

Popular Dahab beach closed as authorities investigate incident

A woman was seriously injured in a shark attack off a popular resort beach on the Red Sea in the south of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, authorities have said.

The Egyptian woman, Zeinab Ahmed Mohammed, 34, was attacked on Wednesday while swimming at the Dahab resort.

Medical officials in the nearby city of Sharm El Sheikh, where the victim is in hospital, said the woman's left arm had to be amputated due to the severity of the injuries. She is in a stable condition, they added.

Local authorities banned swimming, snorkelling and other water sports on Thursday in several Dahab beaches pending the outcome of the investigation.

The restrictions will remain in place until further notice.

The latest attack comes three months after a shark killed a Russian man near the resort town of Hurghada on the West coast of the Red Sea in mainland Egypt.

The Red Sea resorts in Egypt hold great significance in the country's tourism industry, contributing nearly 15 per cent of its GDP and employing close to two million people. With the peak tourism season approaching in autumn and winter, concerns have arisen about potential booking cancellations due to shark attacks.

Experts emphasised the need for authorities to provide tourists with better information on minimising the risk of shark encounters and understanding the behaviour of Red Sea shark species.

In July 2022, two women, an Austrian and a Romanian, were killed in separate incidents south of Hurghada. In 2020, a Ukrainian boy lost an arm while a local tour guide lost a leg in shark attacks. A Czech tourist was killed by a shark off a Red Sea beach in 2018, three years after a German tourist died in another attack.

In 2010, a spate of shark attacks killed one European tourist and saw several others lose limbs in Sharm El Sheikh.

To better understand shark behaviour, Egypt's Environment Ministry has acquired 60 tracking devices that will be attached to sharks in popular resort areas for monitoring purposes.