Horrible incident on Friday in the popular tourist region of Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt: A 68-year-old Austrian woman was attacked by a shark. The woman is said to have lost an arm and a leg when the animal attacked her. The 68-year-old died on the way to the hospital.
The footage from the holiday paradise shows the woman desperately trying to escape the shark as the water around her turns blood red.
Frightened eyewitnesses try to distract the animal from the beach, but no one dares to go into the water to help the seriously injured woman, reports the Daily Mail.
In the video, a man can be heard saying in Russian: “Where are the rescuers? For heaven’s sake. She will die.”
Numerous holidaymakers had watched the shark attack the woman. At that time, however, there was no one in the water or in the immediate vicinity.
The 68-year-old Austrian abroad – according to “Dailymail” she is said to be married to an Egyptian and lives near the holiday resort – apparently wore fins when she swam in the water. At the time of the attack, she was within the swimming area delimited by buoys, as recordings show.
Arm and leg torn off
After the attack by the approximately two meter long shark, the most seriously injured managed to get to land. Rescue workers took over the immediate care of the woman. According to the report, the 68-year-old had an arm and a leg torn off, and the pensioner died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. She is said to have suffered cardiac arrest. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful.
According to reports, the surrounding beaches were closed by the authorities for three days.
Shark attacks are rare in Egypt
According to local media reports, swimming, diving and fishing in the resort area have been banned for three days.
Shark attacks are rather rare in the holiday destination of Egypt. Nevertheless, several attacks have been documented in recent years. In 2020, five people were seriously injured by a shark in Ras Mohammed National Park near Sharm el-Sheikh. A 12-year-old boy lost his arm. In July 2021, a man was injured by a shark in the Red Sea on the Jordanian side.