A Czech tourist has been killed in a shark attack off the coast of an Egyptian Red Sea resort, the first such incident in the country since 2015.

The man was swimming off the beach in Marsa Allam on Friday when the shark struck, a Czech foreign ministry official told The Telegraph.

Local media reported that only some of his remains washed up on shore.

The Czech tourist was holidaying with his family in the popular Red Sea tourist destination. They have since returned home and are waiting for his remains, the Czech official said.

A local newspaper, Al-Mal, reported that Egypt's environment ministry, which would take part in investigating such attacks, had posted then promptly deleted a statement on its Facebook page sharing details of the mauling.

An environment ministry official, Samah Abdo, refused to comment or even confirm whether her ministry had issued then retracted a statement.