An Italian tourist has told how he desperately tried and failed to rescue his friend from the jaws of a tiger shark while the pair holidayed in Egypt.
Gianluca Di Gioia, 48, from Rome, had been snorkeling at a beach located in front of the glamorous Red Sea Sataya Resort on the coast of Marsa Alam, before the attack.
The tourist, who worked at the European External Action Service, the diplomatic service of the European Union, was in the sea alongside his friend Giuseppe Fappani, 69, as they celebrated Di Gioia’s recent birthday.
But the trip took a horrific turn when the pair were approached by a tiger shark in the Egyptian waters, while they swam just 50metres from the beach in an area where the resort’s jetty allows tourists to access beyond the coral reef.
Speaking to Corriere Della Sera, Fappani’s wife recalled the brutal attack after she helplessly watched it unfold from a nearby pier.
She said she saw her husband, who she calls Peppino, swim towards Di Gioia in a desperate bid to scare away the shark before he was bitten on the arms and legs.
In a stunning moment, Fappani reportedly managed to push the beast away for a brief moment before it furiously made its return.
From the shore, as soon as she saw the pair in danger, Di Gioia’s wife, Laurence, who was also watching on in horror from the pier, ‘shouted for help and a dinghy left the beach’.
EU official Gianluca Di Gioia is the victim of a shark attack in Marsa Alam on the Red Sea
The 48-year-old from Rome lost his life when a tiger shark mauled him at a luxury Egyptian resort, just days after he celebrated his birthday
The tragic incident took place at a beach in front of the Sataya Resort – one of the most glamorous on the coast of Marsa Alam, on the Red Sea
According to Fappani’s wife, for a moment, there was a glimmer of hope that the men would make it back to shore with non-life threatening injuries as they scrambled to swim back to the pier.
But only Fappani would make it back to the beachfront as Di Gioia was snapped up by the jaws of the predator as his wife remained helpless from the pier.
The Italian tourist’s injuries to his arms and legs were so severe, it was not known whether he would survive the attack.
The pair were then rushed to a hospital in Port Ghalib where Di Gioia tragically passed away, and Fappani has since been discharged.
The victim’s wife and son, who was also present at the resort, were placed under the care of tour operator Alpitour, and the Italian embassy, to receive the necessary support.
Egyptian authorities have now opened an investigation into the ‘anomalous’ incident, with the while the Ministry of the Environment and the Red Sea Governorate begin a series of investigations to reconstruct what happened.
The attack – according to The Quasir Prosecutor’s Office – occurred ‘in deep waters outside the bathing area’, that is, beyond the coral reef, which should prevent or at least make it more difficult for sharks to access the area near the beach.
‘Such incidents usually occur in spring or summer,’ said one of the local authorities following the case, emphasising the rarity of a shark attack this season.
Following the shocking incident, authorities have closed the pier and the stretch of sea where the EU diplomat was killed.
Di Gioia was reportedly attacked by a tiger shark while he was snorkeling
Di Gioia had been swimming just 50metres from the beach in an area where the resort’s jetty allows tourists to access beyond the coral reef
The Italian tourist’s injuries to his arms and legs were so severe, it was not known whether he would survive the attack
Egyptian authorities have now opened an investigation into the ‘anomalous’ incident
It is now also likely that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office will also open an investigation, and according to Corriere Della Sera, that Fappani may also be questioned by the Carabinieri.
Di Gioia was originally from Rome, but had been living in France where he worked for the European External Action Service (EEAS) of the EU for twelve years.
He had arrived in Marsa Alam on December 11 to celebrate his birthday – December 21 – with his wife and several family members and friends.
According to local reports, he had been planning to stay in Egypt until the New Year before the attack.
The Red Sea is a major tourist destination whose marine life make it popular with divers and Marsa Alam is an Egyptian coastal town known for its coral reefs and beaches.
Deadly shark attacks are a near-yearly occurrence in Egypt’s Red Sea, where marine experts warn unregulated construction, overfishing, and irresponsible tourism practices contribute to changing the ecosystem and shark behaviour.
There have been four fatal shark attacks in the Red Sea over the last 10 years, according to data collected by the Shark Research Institute, cited by the BBC.
The last similar incident was in June 2023 when a tiger shark killed a 23-year-old Russian national in Hurghada, another coastal city on the Red Sea north of Marsa Alam.
Vladimir Popov, 23, was circled by the ‘meat grinder’ tiger shark before he was dragged underwater, as he screamed out: ‘Papa, save me!’
Holidaymakers scrambled from the water as horrified onlookers called out to Vladimir to swim away from the shark before he was mauled to death.
The tiger shark was then caught and dragged to land by boat before it was clubbed to death on the beach ‘in revenge’.
Four people also died when a boat capsized in a separate incident in November. The vessel hit trouble near Marsa Alam as it ferried tourists on a diving trip.
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