A shark tore the arm off an elderly German tourist at an Egyptian Red Sea resort, killing her almost immediately, security and diving officials said Sunday, only days after sharks badly mauled four other European tourists in the waters.
The German was swimming in the waters off Sharm el-Sheikh, a famed diving and vacation resort in the Sinai peninsula, when the shark attacked, Egyptian security officials said.
Sunday's deadly attack comes after oceanic white tip sharks mauled three Russians and Ukrainian tourist last week, also off the coast of Sharm el-Sheikh, In one of those attacks, a shark bit off an elderly woman's hand and tore off another woman's leg.
Egyptian authouities closed Sharm el-Aheikh's beaches following those attacks, and on Thursday the Environment Ministry said two sharks suspected of mauling the four tourists were caught. Authorities then reopened Sharm el-sheikh's beaches Saturday. However, an Egyptian NGO warned that at least one of the sharks behind the attacks was still at large.
Environmentalists warned that the string of recent attacks is likely a result of the Red Sea's declining ecosystem. A marine expert said he's seen a jump in the number of sharks off Egypt's Red Sea coast, which he said could be caused by overfishing.