While many holidaymakers have steered clear of the water and British travel companies halted all boat trips and diving excursions, others were pictured swimming and snorkelling in the Red Sea despite the killer fish still being on the loose.
The latest attack has echoes of the 1975 Steven Spielberg film Jaws, where hunters capture a shark they claim is behind a fatal attack only for the fish to strike again when officials said it was safe to go back into the water.
The German pensioner died after her arm was torn off by the shark. Four other tourists suffered horrific injuries in similar incidents.
Just days before authorities had reassured tourists that they had captured two sharks - an oceanic whitetip and a mako - and the water were safe again for swimming.
Witnesses told how the woman screamed for help after a whitetip tore off her arm and part of her thigh. She is said to have died within minutes.
But officials again played down the danger and said they had called in experts to help determine what type of shark they were looking for.
Tourism minister Zuhair Garana said: 'We are not allowing people to swim in deeper water and we are flying in a marine biologist from Florida to identify exactly what kind of shark we are dealing with.
'We have had attacks before but we have never had this number of attacks over just a few days.
'Diving is being allowed. We are advised that sharks will not attack divers.
'I cannot say that deep waters are completely secure but shallow waters are 100 per cent secure.'
Briton Ellen Barnes, 31, from Horsham, West Sussex, has described how she frantically swam for the shoreline after describing the water around her turning red with blood when the German pensioner was attacked.
She told The Sun: 'I have never felt pure terror like that. The water was churning like I was in a washing machine.
'The shark was thrashing and tearing at this poor woman and I could barely keep my head above the water it was so choppy.
'And the swimmer was screaming "Help me! Help me!" in English. It was spine-chilling. I just threw myself on to the beach.'
Mrs Barnes had been in the water with her daughter Grace, five, and four-month-old son Eden just minutes before the attack.
‘Suddenly there was a scream for help and a lot of violence in the water,’ said Jochen Van Lysebettens, manager of the Red Sea Diving College at the Sinai Peninsula resort.
He said the victim, who was pulled from the water by a lifeguard, was a regular visitor to the luxury Hyatt Regency Hotel, one of the world’s most popular scuba diving destinations.
Oceanic whitetips – once described by late marine expert Jacques Cousteau as the most dangerous of all sharks – are not usually found so close to shore.
The beaches were immediately closed again and tourists were warned to stay out of the water. But there were claims last night that the authorities had been too slow to react to the initial danger.
The earlier attacks had seen three Russians and a Ukrainian injured.
In one of those incidents, an elderly woman had her hand ripped off and another female swimmer had her leg severed.
Tourist Agnieszka Gogolewski, of Kettering, Northamptonshire, who has just returned from the resort, said holidaymakers were given little information about the dangers.
‘We saw a diver being brought out of the water after being attacked by a shark,’ she told Sky News.
‘Only an hour after the attack we saw people were still swimming. It is terrible that no one was warning tourists. The hotels were saying nothing and people were diving and swimming about unaware of the danger.’
The attacks will deal a serious blow to Egypt’s tourist industry.
Sharm el-Sheikh is one of the country’s most popular holiday spots, attracting more than four million visitors a year, including thousands of Britons.
Tony Blair has holidayed with his family several times at the resort.
Environmentalists warned the attacks may have been caused by overfishing in the region, which has brought sharks closer to shore to feed.
One diving expert said the sharks could have been drawn to the coastline by dead cattle – being brought in for the Islamic feast of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha – being dumped in the water.
‘It is unusual to have four attacks in a week,’ said Rolf Schmid, manager of the Sinai Divers’ Centre.
‘The area hasn’t had sharks for the past ten to 15 years.
‘A possible reason for these attacks is cattle and sheep imported from Australia die on the long voyage and are thrown in the water before the ships reach the harbour.’
Concerns have also been raised that unscrupulous dive operators have been encouraging sharks during trips by throwing offal into the water, or that overfishing in the Red Sea has forced the sharks to hunt for food closer to the shore.
U.S. shark expert Samuel Gruber said the spate of incidents recalled Steven Spielberg’s 1975 movie Jaws.
He said: ‘It seems the shark in one day bit more than one person. In all my years reading about shark attacks and writing about them you never hear about sharks biting more than one person.
‘Then for it to happen again is almost like a Jaws scenario.’
In the film, fishermen capture a tiger shark after one attack and the mayor of Amity declares it is safe for people to go back into the water, with disastrous results.
The Foreign Office has warned holidaymakers to be on their guard following the string of shark attacks.
Thousands of British tourists flock to Sharm el-Sheikh each year, attracted by its balmy temperatures and crystal clear waters.
British holiday companies have responded to the attacks by today cancelling all water sports and boat trips.
Thomson and First Choice also advised holidaymakers to stay out of the water.
A statement on the Foreign Office website read: 'Attacks by oceanic white tip sharks are extremely rare and shark attacks of any kind are very unusual in the Red Sea.
'If you are considering diving or snorkelling in any of the Red Sea resorts be aware that safety standards of diving operators can vary considerably.
'A basic rule is never to dive or snorkel unaccompanied. Where possible make any bookings through your tour representative.
'Unusually cheap operators may not provide adequate safety and insurance standards.'