By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Four tourists are believed to have been attacked by the same oceanic white-tip shark


Two of the tourists are in a critical condition after having an arm bitten off as they swam in the Ras Nasrani area of the popular resort town.

Officials have revealed that the animal is an adult oceanic white tip shark.

They are hoping to to capture it alive, and say they will release it back into the wild in a remote area in the Gulf of Suez.

The same shark is then thought to have been involved in an attack on another Russian couple yesterday close to the resort beach, said Mohammed Salem, director of Sinai Conservation.

The creature badly injured the woman's legs and back and she had to be resuscitated after being rescued. The man also suffered serious injuries to his legs.

A shark hunt has been launched in the Red Sea, after four tourists were badly mauled in two separate attacks in an Egyptian resort area.

Egyptian authorities have also taken the drastic option of a temporary ban on watersports along the whole of the coastline around Sharm El-Sheikh, in the wake of the injuries to four Russian holidaymakers.


Four Russians have been badly mauled in two separate attacks by a shark at the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh


Diving instructor Hassan Salem said he was on a dive at the same time of the attack and was circled by the shark before it went for the couple.

'I was able to scare the shark away by blowing bubbles in its face, but then saw it swim to a woman and bite her legs,' he said.

Mr Salem described how the water turned red with blood from the attack and he rushed to take the diver he was training out of the water.


The attacks took place at Sharm el Sheikh, a popular destination for British tourists


All four victims were flown to Cairo for medical treatment and were said to be in a critical condition.

Mohammed Salem said coast guard authorities were hunting for the shark and had issued a warning for swimmers to stay out of the water in Sharm el-Sheikh - a famed scuba diving destination.

He said that Egypt saw up to two fatal shark attacks a year and that injuries related to attacks increased as the number of swimmers in the Red Sea rose.


source: dailymail