A shark mauled a tourist to death today during a diving trip off Egypt’s Red Sea coast.

The French woman, who was in her fifties, jumped into the water for a closer look when she mistook the shark for a big fish approaching her boat, according to a French consular official.

“I can confirm that there is one French citizen killed by a shark in the Red Sea south of Marsa Alam,” said Jean-Marie Safa, a French embassy spokesman.

The woman’s leg showed visible bite marks, and she is thought to have bled to death before being pulled out of the water.

Marsa Alam is a remote diving spot on the Red Sea coast frequented by tourists hoping to avoid the overcrowded sites off the Sinai peninsula.

Amr Ali, the president of the Society for the Preservation of the Red Sea Environment, said: “This very rarely happens. It seems that the victim aggravated the shark or presented it with food, which caused a change in the shark’s behaviour.”

Sharks are common in the area and tourists often take pictures, but attacks are rare. The last person killed by a shark in Egypt was attacked while snorkelling near the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in 2004.

Egypt’s Environment Ministry is planning to set up a natural reserve for the sharks near Marsa Alam, where it already has a similar reserve for dolphins.

Times Recommends

• Please help: maimed children of war want their lives back
• Cabal seizes diamond riches to buy power
• White House gatecrashers got to the president