Vader describes how he watched helplessly as a tiger shark shot and killed his son
A distraught Russian father has told of his horror when he saw his son mauled by a ‘meat grinder’ tiger shark at an Egyptian resort as he cried out, “Daddy, save me!”
Yury Popov was forced to watch helplessly from shore as the beast attacked his son Vladimir, 23, before dragging him underwater in the resort town of Hurghada.
Vacationers scrambled out of the water as shocked onlookers shouted for Vladimir to swim away from the shark before it was mauled.
The tiger shark was then captured and towed to land by boat before being killed.
“We went to the beach to relax,” Popov told the 112 media outlet. “My son was attacked by a shark, it all happened in seconds.”
Vladimir Popov was heard screaming “daddy” as he was mauled by a shark in the Egyptian resort of Hurghada today. Pictured: A still image of a graphic video showing the attack. The shark’s fin can be seen a stone’s throw from Vladimir as he attempts to swim away from the beast
Tourists watched in horror from shore as the beast wounded the man before dragging him underwater
The heartbroken father said there were no relatives near Vladimir to help in the water, although initial reports said the 23-year-old’s girlfriend had managed to flee the attack.
‘What kind of help can you offer? This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds, it was just dragged under water,” said Yury.
The shocked father said, “This is an absolutely ridiculous coincidence, because it is a safe beach. There are ships and yachts nearby. It’s never happened there. They usually attack on wild beaches. It’s just some evil fate.”
Before the horrific attack, Vladimir lived with his father in Egypt for several months. Yury said he would cremate his son and return the ashes to their native Russia.
Video shows the tiger shark being caught by a boat after the attack and dragged ashore. It seemed to be alive when people clubbed it to death.
Egyptian authorities confirmed they captured the shark that killed Vladimir and the beast was handed over for investigation into the causes of its behavior, reports said.
Investigators also plan to determine if the shark is related to one that has “caused multiple previous accidents.”
The shark’s fatal attack was filmed by shocked onlookers who stood helpless on the beach as the carnage ensued.
Video shows Vladimir shouting in desperation “Papa, Papa” as the predator chased him into the water and circled around him before launching the attack.
The victim Vladimir Popov (pictured) had moved to the resort with his father several months ago
Vladimir was heard screaming ‘daddy, save me’ as his father watched helplessly as his son was dragged underwater by the shark, who was later caught and killed on the beach (pictured)
The 23-year-old can be seen desperately trying to swim to shore, only to appear to be attacked by the shark while still in deeper water.
His body spins in the water and his legs rise above the surface – as shocked onlookers scream and shout for the man to swim.
‘Swim away, swim away! Fast! A shark!’ people can be heard screaming.
The splashing in the water stops and the man’s head resurfaces. He appears to move back into the water in the video, but only slowly.
He can be heard screaming ‘Papa’, begging for help, as part of the water turns red.
As he does, the shark’s body is clearly visible on the surface this time. The long black shape circles around the man and his fin and tail can be seen on the surface.
The woman filming the gruesome attack can be heard repeating “oh my god” as it unfolds. As she does, the shark turns for another attack and swims towards the man again, clamping its jaws around him and pulling him under.
The man’s head appears above the water one last time, and the shark’s body is seen writhing in the ocean as it appears to eat the man’s body and drag it further down.
A witness said, “The shark is now eating its remains. There she is, eating his remains.’ Another said, “Right before my eyes, the shark ate the man, the girl managed to escape. He got hit by the shark.
“It’s terrible, this man’s remains are lying there.”
Another witness said that the shark played in the water with Vladimir’s body for two hours.
“Children swam [in the area where the shark attacked] very often – there were children’s slides,” the witness said.
“All this happened not far from a descent into the sea, next to the ladder, used by all who entered the water.
“At some point the shark appeared and immediately bit this man. Rescuers saw this and started to start the boat. He tried to swim away from the shark, but he couldn’t [before he was attacked].
And the shark dragged the body for two hours. It dragged him under water all the time.’
Witnesses said the victim’s girlfriend was in the water at the time of the attack. According to Russian reports, she is safe in Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed the death of a civilian from a shark attack.
Vladimir is not the first to be killed by a shark at the resort.
Last July, 68-year-old Austrian Elisabeth Sauer was attacked in front of shocked onlookers – 15 minutes after English-speaking guests warned Egyptian lifeguards about sharks. Their warnings were laughed at.
A second woman – identified only as a Romanian national in her 40s – is believed to have been killed in a similar attack just 200 yards away from where Sauer died, with her badly disfigured remains found the same day on a nearby reef.
Ms. Sauer lost an arm and a leg in an attack that was caught on film as onlookers tried to distract the shark and get her to safety.
She made it to shore using a flipper, but died a short time later.
Reports at the time – from the AFP news agency and Austrian news outlets – indicated that the attack was committed by a Mako shark, while local Egyptian newspapers referred to the animal as an Oceanic whitetip shark.