12-Year-Old Boy, Tour Guide Lose Limbs In Rare Shark Attack In Red Sea

In a rare shark attack in Sharm El-Sheikh dive spot in Egypt, a Ukrainian boy has lost his arm and a local tourist guide, his leg, AP News reported.

The 12-year-old boy and his mother were snorkelling along with their tour guide in Ras Mohammed National Park when the tragedy struck.

The injured were rushed to Sharm International Hospital for treatment soon after the incident. The youngster, who had deep wounds on his back and an arm, was admitted in the intensive care unit. He had to undergo amputation below the elbow, despite a surgery to save his hand.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian guide has lost a leg and the mother suffered minor injuries, an anonymous local health official told Sky News.

According to an official statement by a task group formed by Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad, the shark attacked the same group again while they were swimming back to the boat that was carrying out the diving trip, injuring two more people.

They also confirmed that the attack was by an oceanic white tip shark with an estimated size of two metres (six foot). In the wake of the incident, the government has suspended all activities in the vicinity of the Sharm El-Sheikh Ras Mohammed diving spot, reported Al Ahram news agency.

Mohamed Salem, head of the Nature Protection Agency at the Ministry of Environment, explained to Egypt today that the incident happened when the three were going for a dive on a tourist boat. When the shark attacked the group, the tour guide began to scream and a security boat came and rescued them.

"Egypt has one of the 30 most globally known species that attack humans, and we are the least vulnerable to this type of accidents,” he added.

In 2010, an elderly German woman was killed in a shark attack in the same region. The woman had died immediately after the attack in which she was reportedly bitten on the thigh and arm.