After the fatal shark attacks in the Egyptian seaside resort of Hurghada, serious allegations were made against the lifeguards present. They are said to have laughed at the shark warnings instead of reacting in a flash.
According to the Daily Mail, eyewitnesses reported the allegations to the Russian newspaper Gazette.ru. Accordingly, English-speaking tourists are said to have warned the lifeguards a few minutes before the first attack of sharks in the area.
The lifeguards on the beach of Sahl Hasheesh, south of the tourist center of Hurghada, are said to have just laughed at the warning. There are no sharks here and never have been before, according to security guards. A fatal wrong decision, as it turned out less than 15 minutes later.
A shark, possibly a mako shark, approached diver Elisabeth Sauer and severely injured her. The video of the dramatic incident shows how the Austrian tried to save herself on land. She succeeded but died a short time later as a result of her injuries.
However, no details of the time of death of the second victim, a Romanian, were released by the Egyptian authorities. As a result, the government is now being accused of a cover-up.
An eyewitness reported: „After the first victim, no one blocked the beaches anymore. I swam free. They wanted to cover it up, as always, but when word got out that there were two victims, they finally moved.”
Shark attacks are actually very rare in the popular tourist region. There is a suspicion that the animal was attracted by spoiled waste or illegal fishing bait.
Reports by AFP news agency and Austrian news outlets suggested the attack was perpetrated by a mako shark, while local Egyptian newspapers dubbed the animal an oceanic whitetip shark.
