A distraught Russian father has shared his horror at seeing his son beaten to death by a ‘meat grinder’ tiger shark at an Egyptian resort while shouting, ‘Dad, save me!’
Yuri Popov watched helplessly from the shore as the beast attacked his 23-year-old son Vladimir before dragging him under water in the resort of Hurghada.
Holidaymakers scrambled out of the water as horrified onlookers shouted at Vladimir to swim away from the shark before he was bludgeoned to death.
The tiger shark was then caught and dragged ashore by boat before being killed.
“We went to the beach to relax,” Russian-born Mr. Popov told media portal 112. “My son was attacked by a shark, it happened within seconds.”
Vladimir Popov was heard screaming “Dad” as he was mauled to death by a shark in the Egyptian resort of Hurghada today. Pictured: A still from a video showing the attack. The shark’s fin can be seen yards away from Vladimir as he tries to escape from the beast
Tourists watched in horror from the shore as the beast wounded Vladimir Popov before dragging him under the water
The heartbroken father said there were no family members near his son to help him in the water. However, initial reports said the 23-year-old’s girlfriend managed to flee the attack.
“What help can you give? “This meat grinder was ready in 20 seconds, it was just pulled under the water,” said Mr. Popov.
The father said, “This is an absolutely ridiculous coincidence because it is a safe beach.” There are ships and yachts nearby. That has never happened there. They usually attack on wild beaches. It’s just kind of an evil fate.’
Vladimir lived with his father in Egypt for several months before the terrible attack. Mr Popov said he will cremate his son and take his ashes back to their native country of Russia.
Video shows the tiger shark being caught by a boat and pulled ashore after the attack. He appeared to be alive before he was slain.
Egyptian authorities confirmed the shark was handed over for research to find out the causes of its behavior and to determine if the animal is related to an animal that “has caused several previous accidents”.
Videos captured by horrified onlookers show Vladimir frantically shouting “Dad, Daddy” as the predator circles him in the water before launching the attack.
Victim Vladimir Popov (pictured) had moved to the resort with his father several months before the attack
The shark was later caught on the beach and killed (pictured)
You can see the 23-year-old trying desperately to swim towards the shore without success. Its body rotates in the water and its legs protrude above the surface.
“Swim away, swim away! Fast! A shark!’ In the video you can hear people screaming.
Soon the splashing in the water stops and the man’s head returns to the surface. He seems to be moving in the water again, but slowly.
He can be heard yelling “Papa” and begging for help as the water turns red.
The shark’s body is clearly visible on the surface at the moment, and its fin and tail are visible as it circles the victim.
The shark turns again to attack and attacks the victim before closing its jaws around it and dragging it underwater.
The man’s head appears above the water one last time and the shark’s body is seen writhing in the sea as it appears to maul the body and pull it further into the depths of the water.
A witness said, ‘The shark is now eating his remains.’ There she is, eating his remains.’ Another said: “Right before my eyes the shark ate the guy, the girl.” [the girlfriend] managed to escape. He got hit by the shark.
“It is a terrible thing, the remains of that man lie there.”
“Children swam [in the area where the shark attacked] “There were very often children’s slides,” said another witness.
“All this happened near a descent into the sea, next to the ladder that everyone used to go into the water.
“Eventually the shark appeared and immediately bit this man. Rescuers saw this and started launching the boat. He tried to swim away from the shark but couldn’t.
“And the shark dragged the body behind it for two hours.” It kept dragging it under the water.’
Witnesses said the victim’s girlfriend was in the water at the time of the attack. Russian reports say she is safe and has returned to Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of a citizen from a shark attack.
The 23-year-old is not the first victim to be killed by a shark at the resort.
In July last year, 68-year-old Austrian Elisabeth Sauer was attacked in front of horrified onlookers at a resort in Sahl Hasheesh – 15 minutes after English-speaking guests warned Egyptian lifeguards about sharks and their warnings were ignored.
The resort is 30 minutes drive from Hurghada where Vladimir was killed.
A second woman – who is just a Romanian national in her 40s – is said to have been killed in a similar attack just 200 meters from where Ms Sauer died. Her badly disfigured remains were found on a nearby reef the same day.
Ms Sauer lost an arm and leg in an attack that was filmed as onlookers tried to distract the shark and guide it to safety.
She reached the shore with the help of a fin, but died a short time later.
At the time, the AFP news agency and Austrian news agencies reported that the attack was carried out by a mako shark, while local Egyptian newspapers dubbed the animal an oceanic whitetip shark.