Shark kills two women in Egypt's Red Sea

Egypt's environment ministry said that a shark killed two women this week in the Red Sea, with Austria's foreign ministry saying one of its citizens had died in the North African country. "Two women were attacked by a shark while swimming" in the Sahl Hasheesh area south of Hurghada, the Egyptian ministry said on Sunday on Facebook, reporting that both had died. Austrian news agency APA said one of the women was a 68-year-old from the country's Tyrol region who was holidaying in Egypt.

Austria's foreign ministry confirmed "the death of an Austrian citizen in Egypt", without providing further details. The identity of the second victim is still unconfirmed. Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi had ordered the closure of all beaches in the area for three days after "an Austrian tourist had her left arm torn off, seemingly in a shark attack". — AFP