SHOCKING video captured the moment a shark leaped out of the water and bit into a parasailer’s foot at a Red Sea resort.
The tourist, 37, was ambushed by the creature while enjoying the watersport with a pal in the luxury holiday hotspot Aqaba, Jordan.
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The Jordanian man was attached to a brightly coloured parachute when he suddenly began to graze the ocean.
Footage shows the tandem paraglider hovering dangerously close to the water below when a shark emerges and chomps on his leg.
He miraculously managed not to get dragged into the sea but was brutally bitten and sustained serious injuries.
He was rushed to the Prince Hashem Military Hospital in a stable condition but was forced to undergo surgery.
Medics operated on his right foot, which had several tendons severed and the muscle torn in the incident in June 2021.
The man also sustained several broken bones during the ordeal that left locals stunned.
Although it remains unclear what kind of shark was responsible for the attack, experts said their presence on the coast of Aqaba is rare.
The city is rich with marine life, including whitetip reef sharks – which have been known to attack humans in the area on occasions.
Mohammad Qatawneh, from the Aqaba International Dive Centre, reassured people that sharks attacks in the Gulf of Aqaba are not common.
Speaking to Jordan News, he said: “The shark attack garnered a lot of media attention. Truthfully, it scared a lot of people, but this is something that can take place anywhere.
“In Karak, for example, there are snakes and scorpions, but in the end, they’re not dangerous enough to scare people away.
“I’ve been diving for 20 years and this is the first time I’ve heard of a shark attack.”
He added: “There are many types of sharks. We have reef sharks, guitar sharks, and many other types but none are dangerous.”
Mohammed Khalil Al Zabada of the College of Marine Sciences told Gulf News: “Sharks are found in all the seas of the world, and in the Red Sea there are many types of sharks, but their presence in the Aqaba region is very rare.”
He said sharks are not normally found in shallow water off the Jordanian coast.
Just two days after the parasailer was savaged, a boat had a run-in with a shark.
Eyewitnesses said no humans were injured when the animal attacked a speedboat.
The head of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) Nayef al-Bakhit announced a committee was being formed to investigate the two incidents.
He stressed that the Royal Jordanian Navy continued to guard beaches, with watersports and other activities in Aqaba continuing as normal at the time.
It came after a tourist was mauled by a shark close by, in Marsa Alam, Egypt, 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.
The victim, 42, was attacked on a diving trip in Marsa Alam, which is famed for regular sightings of sharks on the reef offshore.
The injured German woman was taken to hospital where she had stitches for a large wound in her shoulder.
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Olivia Burke
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