(Reuters) – Russia’s consulate general in the city and two Egyptian security sources said on Thursday that a Russian citizen was killed in a shark attack near a beach in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

The Egyptian Ministry of Environment said in a statement posted on Facebook that a tiger shark was responsible for the death of a beachgoer, without giving details about the victim.

A team from the ministry and other authorities managed to capture the shark, the statement said, adding that local authorities issued a ban on swimming, snorkeling and other water sports activities on several beaches near the site of the attack.

A diver who arrived on the scene immediately after the attack said people rushed to help the victim after a rescue worker from a nearby hotel raised the alarm, but was unable to reach him in time.

The Russian news agency TASS said that the dead man was a Russian man, born in 1999, who lived in Egypt full time and was not a tourist.

In a statement posted on its official channel on messaging app Telegram, the consulate urged Russian tourists to exercise caution while in the water and strictly adhere to any swimming bans imposed by local authorities.

(Reuters report) Editing by Andrew Osborne and Lesley Adler

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