A 48-year-old Italian man has been killed and another seriously injured in a shark attack off the coast of Marsa Alam, Egypt.
Italian media has named the dead man as Gianluca Di Gioia from Rome, who had been spending Christmas in Egypt with his family. He had reportedly celebrated his birthday on 21 December.
A 69-year-old man named as Peppino Fappani, from Soncino, was taken to hospital in Port Ghalib. His current status is unknown, however, reports in the Italian media suggest his injuries are ‘not serious.’
Egypt’s Ministry for the Environment issued a statement saying ‘Two foreigners were attacked by a shark in the northern Marsa Alam area, which led to the injury of one and the death of the other.’
The pair were snorkelling near Sataya Resort on Sunday when the incident occurred. The Environment Ministry’s statement said that the pair had strayed into ‘deep waters outside of the designated swimming area’ when they were attacked.
The species of shark has not been formally identified, and authorities have closed the waters in the surrounding area to tourists while an investigation takes place.
The news will come as a blow to the Egyptian tourist industry, recently impacted by the tragic loss of eleven lives after the sinking of a liveaboard earlier in December.
Tiger sharks and other ‘dangerous’ species such as oceanic white-tips are native to the Red Sea and relatively common. While there have been several high-profile shark incidents in recent years – a Russian man was killed by a tiger shark in Hurghada in 2023 – unprovoked shark attacks remain, globally, very rare.
