A tiger shark killed a 48-year-old
Roman tourist in the Red Sea on Sunday, Egyptian authorities
said Monday.
Gianluca Di Gioia, born in the Italian capital but resident in
France where his wife was born, was killed by the animal while a
friend who tried to stop the shark's furious attack, 69-year.old
Peppino Fappani, was slightly hurt in the incident.
The two Italians were attacked on Sunday morning "in deep water
outside the bathing area" at the Marsa Alam resort, the Egyptian
Ministry of the Environment reported.
They were scuba diving to enjoy the coral reef there and
celebrate Di Gioia's birthday on December 21, his family said.
In the aftermath of the attack, the stretch of sea where it
occurred will remain closed to swimming for two days, starting
Monday.
After the attack, Di Gioia's body was transported to the Port
Ghalib hospital along with Fappani.
The Italian Embassy in Cairo said it is providing consular
assistance to both the family of the deceased 48-year-old and
the injured compatriot.
Di Gioia, born in 1976, graduated in Economics and Commerce at
Sapienza University in Rome in 1995, worked at the European
Commission's research center and had been working at the
European External Action Service - Eeas, the diplomatic service
of the European Union, since 2012.
On his social media profiles, there are many photos of him
around the world, often in seaside locations, alternating with
images with his wife of French origin to whom he had been
married since 2013.
Fappani, a dental technician from Soncino, in the province of
Cremona, had been a friend of Di Gioia for some time.
And according to initial information, he was injured by small
bites after intervening to help his friend.
Shark attacks are fairly rare events along the Egyptian coast of
the Red Sea.
Among the latest episodes, there was the death in Hurghada of a
Russian in June last year and of two tourists in 2022, an
Austrian and a British.
Also in the Red Sea, a young Ukrainian lost an arm in 2020 and
the same fate befell an Egyptian woman in September last year in
Dahab, on the Sinai coast.
On November 25, Marsa Alam returned to the headlines when a
tourist yacht, the "Sea Story", sank due to adverse weather
conditions, causing four deaths, seven missing and 33 survivors,
including a Belgian citizen with dual Italian nationality.
The isolated cases have not slowed the flow of travelers to this
coast, among the most popular destinations for New Year's
tourism thanks to its coral reef populated by tropical fish that
make it similar to an aquarium that can be enjoyed even with
just a mask and snorkel.
In recent days, Egyptian media write, the airports of Hurghada
and Marsa Alam have registered the arrival of about 150,000
tourists of various nationalities:
Germany and Russia are at the top of the list, followed by the
United Kingdom and Italy, in fourth place, with hotel occupancy
rates that stand between 90% and 100%.
The numbers are good for the local economy, but could have
negatively affected the marine environment.
According to some experts, poorly regulated construction,
overfishing and irresponsible tourism practices contribute to
changing the ecosystem and the behavior of sharks.
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