CAIRO and LONDON - Two women were killed in shark attacks in Egypt's Red Sea over the weekend, prompting officials to close a stretch of coastline.
Egypt's Environment Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the women were attacked by a shark while swimming in the Red Sea near the resort of Hurghada. Amr Hanafi has issued an order suspending all water activities in the vicinity of the deadly attack, according to the ministry.
The ministry said it had set up an expert committee to investigate the circumstances of the incident and any scientific reasons behind it. According to the ministry, the organization is "still completing its work to find out exactly what caused the shark's behavior in attacking the two victims".
It is unclear whether the same shark was involved in both attacks.
The Ministry of Environment added that it regretted the accident and expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the two victims, as well as its sincere gratitude and appreciation to all parties involved for their support.
The ministry did not release the identities of the two women; however, The Associated Press reported that one was a 68-year-old Austrian woman and the other was a Romanian tourist.
An Austrian foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that an Austrian citizen from the western state of Tyrol has died in Egypt. The Austrian embassy in Cairo is in contact with the victims' relatives and with Egyptian authorities, who will not provide further information due to "data protection and confidentiality reasons," according to a spokesperson.
Shark attacks along Egypt's Red Sea coast have been relatively rare in recent years. In 2020, a 12-year-old Ukrainian boy lost an arm in a shark attack while snorkeling off the coast of Sharm el-Sheikh, another Red Sea resort, and an Egyptian tour guide lost a leg.
