Marsa Alam's Qulaan island (Photo: Rowan El Shimi)
An Austrian tourist has flown home for further medical treatment after suffering a leg injury in a shark attack in the Red Sea resort of Marsa Alam, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported on Monday.
Christine Schachinger, 20, was bitten by a shark while taking part in water sports in the Red Sea. She was rushed to a private hospital in Marsa Alam and received treatment on her right leg.
She was later transferred to Austria by private jet for further medical treatment.
Shark attacks are very rare in Egypt, with only 34 cases reported since 1827, according to the Shark Research Institute, a US-based scientific research organization.
However, environmentalists say certain actions on the part of divers and swimmers may provoke attacks.
The Society for the Rescue and Protection of the Environment of the Red Sea warns diving guides and tourists against feeding sharks or otherwise provoking them.
The organization says the Austrian tourist was probably attacked in response to such actions.
Last year, Egypt imposed a temporary ban on sport fishing and offshore swimming at Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea after a man was bitten by a shark.
At the time, officials and scientists said the attack was likely caused by a combination of fishing and swimming in the same spot.
In 2010, three shark attacks in the span of one week have left four eastern European tourists seriously injured and one German tourist dead.
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