Father describes watching helplessly as a tiger shark beat his son to death

A distraught Russian father told how he witnessed his son being bludgeoned to death by a ‘meat grinder’ tiger shark at an Egyptian resort while the victim yelled ‘Dad, save me’.

Yuri Popov watched in horror from the shore as the beast wounded his 23-year-old son Vladimir before dragging him under water in the resort of Hurghada.

Holidaymakers climbed out of the water while horrified onlookers shouted for Vladimir to swim away from the shark before it was killed and eaten.

Vladimir was heard screaming, “Dad, save me,” while his father watched helplessly as his son was dragged underwater by the shark, which was later caught on the beach and killed.

“We went to the beach to relax,” Yury told media outlet 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 animal wounded the man before dragging him under the water

The heartbroken father said there were no family members near Vladimir to help in the water, although initial reports say the 23-year-old’s girlfriend managed to flee the attack.

“What help can you give? “This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds, it just pulled under the water,” Yury said.

The shocked 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. Yury said he would cremate his son and take the ashes back to their native country of Russia.

Video shows the tiger shark being caught by a boat and pulled ashore after the attack. It seemed alive when people slew it.

Egyptian authorities reportedly confirmed that they had caught the shark that killed Vladimir and the animal was handed over for investigation into the causes of its behavior.

The researchers also want to find out if the shark is related to one that “has caused several previous accidents.”

The deadly shark attack was filmed by horrified onlookers who stood helplessly on the beach as the massacre ensued.

The video shows Vladimir frantically shouting “Dad, Daddy” as the predator chased him in the water, circling him before launching the attack.

Victim Vladimir Popov (pictured) had moved to the resort with his father a few months ago

Vladimir was heard screaming “Dad, save me” while his father watched helplessly as his son was dragged underwater by the shark, which was later caught and killed on the beach (pictured).

You can see the 23-year-old trying desperately to swim to shore, but in deeper waters he seems to be attacked by the shark.

His body twists in the water and his legs lift above the surface – while horrified onlookers scream and yell for the man to swim.

“Swim away, swim away! Fast! A shark!’ You can hear people screaming.

The splashing in the water stops and the man’s head returns to the surface. In the video, it looks like he’s moving in the water again, but slowly.

He can be heard yelling “Papa” and begging for help as part of the water turns red.

This time, the shark’s body is clearly visible on the surface. The long black shape circles the man and his fin and tail can be seen near the surface.

He could hear the woman filming the horrific attack repeating “Oh my God” over and over as it played out. The shark turns to attack again and swims towards the man again, enclosing him in his jaws and dragging him under the water.

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 eat the man’s body, pulling it further down.

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 managed to escape.” He got hit by the shark.

“It is a terrible thing, the remains of that man lie there.”

Another witness said the shark played with Vladimir’s body in the water for two hours.

“Children swam [in the area where the shark attacked] “There were very often children’s slides,” said the 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 [before he was attacked].

“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. According to Russian reports, she is safe in Russia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of a citizen from a shark attack.

Vladimir is not the first to be killed by a shark at the resort.

In July last year, 68-year-old Austrian Elisabeth Sauer was attacked in front of a horrified crowd – 15 minutes after English-speaking guests warned Egyptian lifeguards about sharks. Her warnings were laughed at.

A second woman – who is just a Romanian national in her 40s – is said to have been killed in a similar attack just 650 feet from Sauer’s death. 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.