Several beaches on Egypt’s Red Sea coast have been closed after two foreign tourists were reportedly killed in shark attacks.

According to reports, the two women who were snorkeling were identified as Austrians and Romanians. Egypt’s environment ministry said on Sunday that the incident involving the shark attacking the women occurred in the Sahl Hasheesh region, south of the city of Hurghada.

According to reports, the predator is classified as a Mako shark and is responsible for at least one of the fatalities. The two women were attacked within 600 meters of each other, off Sahl Hasheesh in the Red Sea.

A brutal shark attack in the Red Sea kills two women

A 68-year-old woman from the Tyrol region of Austria, who was traveling to Egypt, died on Friday after losing an arm and a leg in a Mako shark attack in the Red Sea.

Separately, the body of a Romanian woman who was attacked by a shark was discovered on Sunday. The Romanian Foreign Ministry said it was seeking to identify the victim and repatriate the body.

According to a widely circulated internet video, the Austrian woman was attacked fairly close to the coast. However, sources were unable to verify the visual. As seen in the footage, observers on the pier toss a flotation device towards the woman as she struggles as the water around her turns red.

Trigger Warning: The following video may contain disturbing content

An eyewitness was quoted saying:

“I saw the shark spinning and twisting the woman in the water. I didn’t manage to film it, but she writhed in the water.”

According to Reuters, the Austrian woman has lived in Egypt with her native husband for five years.

In the aftermath of the attacks, Egyptian authorities restricted access to part of the national Red Sea coastline and banned water sports such as diving, snorkeling, windsurfing and kitesurfing. In addition, fishing vessels were prohibited from entering the waters off Hurghada.

A committee has been set up to investigate the circumstances of the attacks and possible scientific explanations, as stated by the Egyptian government.

They further announced:

“Local authorities have halted all activity in the vicinity of the incident for three days to allow data collection in accordance with protocols used around the world to investigate shark attacks.”

The Red Sea coastline, a popular travel destination for European tourists, has seen few shark attacks.

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However, a similar attack in 2020 resulted in the loss of a tour guide’s leg and the arm of a young Ukrainian. A German traveler died in a similar incident in 2015, while a Czech tourist was murdered by a shark earlier in 2018.

Along with this, another European tourist was murdered while many others were injured in a series of shark attacks off Sharm el-Sheikh in 2010.