Egypt to pay shark attack victims £32,000 each
Egypt is to pay $50,000 (£32,000) in compensation to each of the three Russian tourists who suffered severe injuries when a shark attacked them while swimming last week at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt’s most popular seaside resort.
“Every one of the Russian tourists who were affected by the shark attacks will receive a compensation of $50,000 from the Egyptian Government,” said Helmy Bedeir, an adviser to the Egyptian Tourism Ministry, at a press conference organised by Novosti, the Russian news agency.
The offer was an attempt to smooth over the panic that has ripped through the luxury coastal resorts and the vital Egyptian tourism industry, one of the main sources of Egypt’s revenue. Three Russians and a Ukrainian were mauled by sharks last week, then on Sunday, after two sharks were killed and the beaches had been declared safe again, a 70-year-old German woman was bitten to death next to one of the most expensive hotels in the Naema Bay area of Sharm el-Sheikh.
A resort spokesman said the chances of killing or capturing the inadvertent maneater were extremely slim, and recommended instead putting more lifeguards in place and educating tourists about the dos and don’ts of swimming in areas with sharks, such as staying to the shore-side of reefs, avoiding inlets and estuaries and not swimming at dawn, dusk or at night.