Shark kills Czech tourist in Egypt Red Sea

A tourist from the Czech Republic was killed in a shark attack off the coast of Egypt on Friday, according to Czech media reports.

The 41-year-old man had been swimming in the Red Sea off the coast of Marsa Alam in southeastern Egypt, Czech Radio reported.

Czech media outlet Echo24 quoted an official as saying: "Our consul was informed by telephone that this afternoon, the client of the Exim Tours travel agency had died as a result of a shark attack."

According to reports, the man was on holiday at the Red Sea resort with his wife and children.

A spokesperson for the tour company said that the attack was a rare occurrence and that the victim's family hope to travel home as soon as possible.

According to Egyptian government data in 2017, the country reported the lowest number of shark attacks globally for the two decades.

A string of shark attacks, however, were reported in Egypt in 2010, when four tourists were injured and one killed.

Since Egypt's revolution in 2011, the country's once-thriving tourism industry has suffered significantly due to political turmoil and the presence of armed militant groups.

The number of foreign tourists in Egypt went from 14.7 million in 2010 to 5.4 million in 2016, on the back of the suspension of flights and turmoil following the uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

In 2017 that number recovered to 8.3 million visitors, according to official figures.

Revenues from tourism at the same time dropped by two thirds, from $11.6 billion in 2010 to $3.8 billion in 2016.