A Russian man has died after being attacked and dragged underwater by a shark in Egypt. The incident took place off the coast of the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada on Thursday, according to an Al-Jazeera report. The country's environment ministry said the attacker was a tiger shark. Officials closed off a 74-kilometre stretch of the coastline and announced that it will remain off limits for those planning to go for swimming of other water sports activity till Sunday, the outlet further said.
In a Facebook post, the ministry said, "An attack by a tiger shark on a beachgoer... led to his death." It, however, provided no further details.
The video of the incident is circulating on social media and shows the man struggling and trying to swim away from the shark that is circling around him and attacking. He was finally dragged under water.
A lifeguard raised an alarm after which some people rushed to help the man, but were not able to reach in time.
The Guardian reported that officials of Egypt's environment ministry later caught the shark and were examining it to 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, the outlet further said in its report.
Russia's Tass news agency said that he was born in 1999 and lived in Egypt full-time.
In a statement posted on its official channel on the Telegram messaging application, the consulate urged Russian tourists to be vigilant when in the water and to strictly adhere to any swimming bans imposed by local authorities, as per The Guardian report.
