Shark incident in southern Sinai - some injuries

[FinnMom]

Statement by the Ministry of Environment on the emergence of a shark in southern Sinai

The Ministry of Environment has received a report that three people have been attacked by a shark in the Ras Mohammed area of south Sinai, which has resulted in some injuries, and this has required them to be taken to hospital for necessary aid and appropriate measures. In this regard.

The Ministry of Environment is currently conducting all the necessary investigations to know the circumstances of the accident in accordance with the universal protocols in this regard to determine the reasons that may have caused this accident.

The Ministry of Environment is following the situation closely and will prepare a detailed statement once investigations are completed to determine the type, size and causes of the accident in detail.

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Rumors say the folks involved were snorkelers, not divers.

 

[BlueTrin]

From Facebook

Our Prayers go out to those who was in RAS Mohammed national park Sharm el sheikh yesterday in the Shark attack a little boy lost his arm and a piece from his side and a friend who was a guide got seriously hurt and also a lady. The guide and boy are in a very bad situation in intensive care and we hope they all pull through it our prayers are with the victims and there family's

We are still waiting on what happened as there is no official news at the moment please keep them in your Prayers

ScubaDreamz Dive Travel

 

[chris kippax]

Longimanus

 

[ccrprospect]

More details published in the Egyptian press. Article is in Arabic (translated to English below using Google Translate):

تعرض 3 أشخاص لهجوم من سمكة قرش بمحمية رأس محمد.. والبيئة توقف جميع الأنشطة - بوابة الشروق

Today, the Ministry of Environment received a report stating that 3 people were attacked by a shark while practicing surface swimming near the "Shark Reef" diving area in the Ras Mohammed reserve; As a result of their injuries, they were transported from the site of the accident to the hospital to take the necessary medical measures.

Immediately after receiving the report, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, issued a mandate to form a working group of specialists in South Sinai reserves. To study the circumstances of the accident and collect information from all sources, especially from the witnesses of the accident who were in the area at the time of the attack, along with analyzing these data and information according to the protocols used internationally in the investigations of shark attacks on humans.

As a result of the investigation of the circumstances of the accident, two of the injured were tourists from Ukraine (a mother and her son), in addition to the guide accompanying the tour group on the launch of the Sharm el-Sheikh diving center, some of whom used to practice diving, and the others sports surface swimming in the "Shark Reef" diving area. Ras Mohammed Reserve.

The injured child, who was in the group that was practicing surface swimming, which included 6 people, in addition to the Egyptian guide, was attacked by a shark; This resulted in injury, forcing the group to climb into the shallow area of coral reefs and seek distress with the boat used to carry out the trip.

Fouad added that as soon as the boat approached the group and threw a lifeline for them, and while the group was swimming in the direction of the launch, the shark repeated its attack on 3 individuals, including the child who was attacked the first time, which resulted in injuries to all of them.

The Working Group's interpretation of the incident concluded that it resulted from an Oceanic Whitetip Shark attack, which was estimated to be approximately two meters in size.

As soon as the Ministry of Environment was sure of the circumstances and causes of the accident, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, issued instructions to stop all human activities in the vicinity of the attack, in accordance with what is generally followed in cases of shark attacks on humans, which is a precautionary measure to ensure that the attack on other people does not recur within days Following the accident.

By following up on social media, an underwater video clip was reached in the area of the accident by one of the divers working in the field of safari diving, in which a female shark, estimated to be about 2 meters in length, appeared from the oceanic white-fin shark, exhibiting abnormal behavior and behavior characterized by With hostility towards humans, which is likely to be the one who attacked the injured, taking into account the aforementioned data and information.

The Ministry of Environment confirmed that the working team in charge of examining the circumstances of the accident is still completing its work tasks to accurately reach the causes of the behaviors that resulted from the shark that caused the accident towards the injured.

 

[San Diego Climber]

Courtesy of Wikipedia; wonder if this was just a freak occurrence or similar cause as proposed 10 years ago:

"In Egypt in 2010, one oceanic whitetip was implicated in several bites on tourists in the Red Sea near Sharm El Sheikh. The shark was recognised individually by the bite mark taken out of its upper tail lobe. Accumulating evidence revealed this shark to have been conditioned to being hand fed. Upon associating the divers with an easy supply of food, it bit the divers and snorkelers on the areas of the body where it had seen the fish being kept, namely, in the fanny packs the divers carried. This caused the shark to target the divers' buttock and thigh regions in the hope of obtaining a meal. The 2010 Sharm El Sheikh bites resulted in one death and four injuries to humans. The attacks might have been instigated by the overfishing in that area of the Red Sea, effectively forcing the shark closer to shore where the bites took place."

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

After diving that area multiple times i cant say im surprised.

I hope they survive to see another day

 

[rickpreve]

I have the following from CNN which does not add much but confirms much of the facts:
“ A child has lost an arm and his mother suffered "deep wounds" in a shark attack in a marine reserve near the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

The Ukrainian tourists were attacked by a shark while swimming in the Ras Mohammed National Reserve on Sunday, Ukraine's state agency for tourism development said in a statement.
The tourists were rushed to Sharm International Hospital for treatment: the mother had deep bite wounds, while the child had an amputated upper limb below the elbow and suffered deep wounds on his back, the statement said, citing the Ukrainian embassy in Egypt.


Sharks have killed 7 people in Australia this year, the most since 1934. Climate change could be a factor
Alll activities have been suspended in the vicinity of the Sharm El-Sheikh Ras Mohammed diving spot, Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram news agency reported Tuesday.
Five people, including the two Ukrainian tourists and one tour guide, were injured in the attack, according to Al-Ahram.
The shark was an oceanic whitetip, estimated to be two meters in length, Al-Ahram reported, citing a task group formed by the country's environment minister to investigate the attack.
The group said that a video shot underwater in the area of the attack showed the shark's "abnormal behavior characterized by hostilities against humans," Al-Ahram reported.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Courtesy of Wikipedia; wonder if this was just a freak occurrence or similar cause as proposed 10 years ago:

"In Egypt in 2010, one oceanic whitetip was implicated in several bites on tourists in the Red Sea near Sharm El Sheikh. The shark was recognised individually by the bite mark taken out of its upper tail lobe. Accumulating evidence revealed this shark to have been conditioned to being hand fed. Upon associating the divers with an easy supply of food, it bit the divers and snorkelers on the areas of the body where it had seen the fish being kept, namely, in the fanny packs the divers carried. This caused the shark to target the divers' buttock and thigh regions in the hope of obtaining a meal. The 2010 Sharm El Sheikh bites resulted in one death and four injuries to humans. The attacks might have been instigated by the overfishing in that area of the Red Sea, effectively forcing the shark closer to shore where the bites took place."

There were a few hypotheses being batted around, from the plausible to the implausible. The overall point though is that as a researcher once told me, "oceanic whitetips don't miss meals." They are very opportunistic and persistent predators that live in environments where the food density is usually low. The only one I've run across in French Polynesia was alone and smaller than any of the five humans in our group and still had the cheek to make multiple passes at us. A few weeks later a snorkeler on a whale tour lost parts of both arms and was badly bitten on the chest by an OW that also was reportedly small.

Just asking, how far offshore was this?

 

[ms76]

Just asking, how far offshore was this?
Shark reef and Yolanda is at the coast, almost at the southern tip of Sinai

 

[Christian]

Just asking, how far offshore was this?
Shark reef and Yolanda is at the coast, almost at the southern tip of Sinai

Doable as a shore dive. BUT, the African trench runs along the Sinai east coast and land plunges down into the abyss a few fin strokes from land, so you can have pelagic action there right off the beach. "Anything" is possible. Which is one of the main premises with RasMo.
OWT are not seen there often, it is rare, but it happens. The Egyptian Red Sea is one of few places where they still are fairly common. Having done a fair amount of dives with this speices in the Red Sea, I agree with previous poster that the outcome is not super surprising. Mixing tourists with OWT:s is a recipe for an accident to happen. They are bold and curious. If there's "bait" in the water, like small food scraps from left overs thrown overboard, a situation can get hairy quickly. It's not the first time. More education and information is needed for people visitig a place like Rasmo. Even though an encounter is not plausible, it is possible.