Swimmer, 68, killed by shark in Egypt after ‘having arm & leg ripped off’ pictured after tragic final words to husband
A SWIMMER tragically killed by a shark at a resort in Egypt after telling her partner she was just going back into the water "for a moment" has been pictured.
The Austrian tourist has been named by her local Green Party in Kramsach as 68-year-old Elisabeth Sauer, who served as a councillor from 1998 to 2004.
The Austrian embassy in Cairo said she had been in the country for a month with her Egyptian partner - and was due to return home to Austria today, reports.
The Green Party in Kramsach said: "We mourn the passing of our Elisabeth Sauer... who died in a tragic accident.
"Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family.
"Elisabeth was a committed Green from the first hour in Kramsach, councillor from 1998 to 2004, for many years loyal substitute councillor... may she rest in peace.
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"We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere condolences and compassion. She will forever be remembered for her warm and humanly connecting way."
The pensioner was walking in shallow water while using a snorkel with fins not far from the beach near Hurghada, on the opposite coastline from Sharm el Sheikh.
She reportedly told her partner: "I'll go back in for moment."
It was allegedly her final words before she was attacked by what is believed to be a Mako shark in Sahl Asheesh Bay.
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Horrific video - which is too graphic to publish - shows her struggling back to shore as the water turns red with blood.
The 68-year-old reportedly had her arm and leg ripped off by the beast - and then later died from her injuries.
Screaming and horrified beach goers were stunned by the attack - but no one jumped in to help.
She is said to have died from "painful shock" and a heart attack after being taken the Nile Hospital.
Egyptian authorities have now closed part of the coastline amid fears the shark could still be lurking nearby in the Red Sea after the bloodbath attack.
Red Sea Governorate officials are hopeful they will reopen tomorrow.
According to reports, tourists rushed out of the water when she was attacked.
And others tried to “distract the shark from the victim” from the shore and a nearby pier.
Russian witnesses saw she lost an arm but did not mention a severed leg.
One said: “People are rushing out of the sea. There's no ambulance, there's no one helping her.
“She's got no arm - up to her elbow. The shark grabbed her and twisted her around.”
Another eyewitness said: "I had been filming an octopus and people started screaming.
"I didn't even pay attention, then I heard a terrible roar.
“I stopped filming the octopus, turned around and there was that hefty jaw gnawing at this woman.
"The woman was still fighting off the shark with her hands at first, but apparently the shark bit off her leg with a flipper first, then her hand, which it threw on the corals."
He added: "She was in shock. She didn't even scream, didn't cry, nothing.
“People were just screaming. Rescuers were running, there were no life buoys, nothing. There was nothing to throw to save the woman."
The woman made it to the shore but died apparently from extreme shock caused by pain from the vicious attack.
One Egyptian account said: “The pensioner was swimming in the Sahl Hashish area, south of the resort of Hurghada, on Friday.
“She was attacked by a shark which bit off her arm and leg.
“She tried to reach shore on her own… medics arrived and took her to hospital.
People were just screaming. Rescuers were running, there were no life buoys, nothing. There was nothing to throw to save the woman
Eyewitness
“Along the way the doctors performed resuscitation measures, but her heart was not restarted. The woman died in the ambulance from painful shock."
"Doctors fought for her life for a long time, giving her cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but she could not be saved," said another account.
In the wake of the Friday attack, swimming, diving, snorkelling and fishing from the Sahl Hasheesh area to Makadi Bay were prohibited for three days, according to local reports.
It comes after a shark jumped out of the water and took a bite out of a parasailer’s foot at a resort in the Red Sea last year.
Footage of the horrifying incident shows the a 37-year-old Jordanian man hovering above the water when the shark suddenly emerges and chomps his leg.
The man sustained serious injuries in the attack in Aqaba and was rushed to hospital.
Medics operated on his right foot, which had several tendons severed and the muscle torn in the incident, as well as having several broken bones.
The attack in Aqaba came after a tourist was mauled by a shark close by in Marsa Alam - famed for regular sightings of sharks on the reef offshore - while diving with the creatures in 2020.
An oceanic whitetip shark lunged at the German woman's neck and latched on before instructors pulled her away to safety.
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Footage at the time showed the moment of panic as the shark sank its teeth into the woman and thrashed its tail as she spins away.
The injured woman was taken to hospital where she had stitches for a large wound in her shoulder.