EU Official Gianluca Di Gioia, 48, Mauled to Death by Shark While Snorkeling at Egyptian Resort as Horrified Wife Watched Tragic Attack From a Pier
The victim's wife watched the attack occur from a pier.
Dec. 30 2024, Published 12:47 p.m. ET
A horrific shark attack has occurred in front of the Red Sea Sataya Resort near Marsa Alam in Egypt – leaving one person dead.
EU official Gianluca Di Gioia died in the attack despite the best efforts of his friend, Giuseppe Fappani, who managed to survive the ordeal with terrible injuries, RadarOnline.comc can reveal.
EU official Gianluca Di Gioia died following a horrific shark attack.
Di Gioia and Fappani had been snorkeling in front of the resort just moments before the attack.
Fappani's wife watched the savage attack occur from a nearby pier, as she recalled the horrifying scene including her husband do all he could to save his friend.
She said: "Peppino did everything he could to save Gianluca Di Gioia who was snorkeling. That area is safe to swim in. I was on the pier, I saw him swim towards Gianluca to scare the shark but then Peppino was bitten on the arms and legs too."
The attack occurred in front of a luxury resort in Egypt.
Fappani, 69, suffered brutal injuries but managed to survive, however, Di Gioia was not as fortunate.
Di Gioia's wife Laurence, who also watched from the pier, reportedly screamed for help as a dinghy left the shore. Both men were taken to the hospital in Port Ghalib, about 30 miles north of Marsa Alam where Di Gioia succumbed to his injuries.
Following the incident, the area where the pals were swimming was closed off to visitors and locals.
Di Gioia's friend, who attempted to rescue the man, suffered injuries but survived.
According to Egyptian authorities, the attacked occurred in "deep waters outside the designated swimming area," but confirmed an emergency committee would be made to investigate the incident.
This comes more than a year after another tourist, Vladimir Popov, was also killed by a pregnant tiger shark in Egypt. The 23-year-old was dragged into the water by the massive shark north of Marsa Alam.
Popov's body parts were separated in the attack and were later retrieved from the sea.
His father, Yury, agreed to release his son's remains so that a funeral could be held in Russia.
Earlier this year, a man was attacked by a shark while swimming in San Diego's Del Mar beach – but thankfully was able to escape with his life.
According to the city of Del Mar, the 46-year-old victim was swimming with about a dozen other people who routinely met up for training when the shark was spotted. The man was bitten in the torso, left arm, and hand.
He was transported via ambulance to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. At the time, city officials said the his injuries were "significant but not believed to be life-threatening."
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A 23-year-old tourist died in the same area following a shark attack in 2023.
Del Mar Lifeguard Chief Jon Edelbrock said: "Our lifeguards noticed an individual being helped by others and they responded and provided immediate medical care," and added the victim "was conscious and oriented, relaying some information to the treating staff members" following the attack.
He noted: "The water visibility was really poor. You just can’t see anything that’s moving through the water column at all. The exact moment of the incident was really the only interaction with, or sighting of, the shark."
The city reportedly deployed a drone and a boat to look for the shark after the attack, but came up empty in their search.
