Russian man killed in shark attack in Egyptian Red Sea resort

June 9 (UPI) -- A Russian man has died after being attacked by a shark while swimming in the Red Sea off the western coast of Egypt, authorities said, the third fatal attack in 11 months.

The Environment Ministry confirmed the fatal attack on the man in his 20s Thursday in Hurghada and said it had banned swimming, snorkeling and water sports activities between El-Gouna Resort North and the southern edge of Abu Souma Bay South for 48 hours from Friday morning.

"Investigation work has been completed, and the Red Sea Reserves confirmed that there was an attack by a tiger shark on a beach pioneer, leading to his death," the ministry said on its Facebook page.

Environment Minister Yasmin Fouad said she had instructed local authorities managing the incident to apply in full internationally recognized safety protocols on the Red Sea shores and to take all possible measures to avoid further attacks.

The shark has been killed a taken to a laboratory for examination to try to determine the cause of the attack, Fouad said pledging to release the findings of the investigation once it was complete.

"In light of abnormal shark behavior causing the incident and the fact that there have been incidents of attacks on humans by this species in the past, the shark team will examine the shark that caused the incident to examine it to find out possible causes for the attack and whether it the same one responsible for previous incidents."

Russian Consul-General Viktor Voropayev identified the victim as V. Yu Popov, a Russian citizen who was born in 1999, telling the state-run TASS news agency that the attack occurred at Dream Beach, a municipal beach, and not at one of the hotels where international tourists normally stay.

The victim was not a tourist, but a permanent resident of Egypt said Voropayev who called on Russian citizens to "be vigilant when in the water, strictly abide by swimming and diving bans imposed by Egyptian authorities, and strictly obey warnings from hotel personnel to get back to land."

Two women -- an Austrian and a Romanian -- were killed within days of each other in July after being attacked by sharks while in the water off Hurghada.