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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Rachel Hagan

Killer shark circles man and eats him alive before it's beaten to death by mob

A horrific shark attack is captured on camera as the maneater circles a young man swimming close to a beach before devouring him as he cries out in panic.

The swimmer struggles with the fearsome beast before losing his battle and the waters turn red around him.

Shortly after, a large tiger shark was caught by local fishermen and dragged ashore, where a crowd beat the animal to death.

The man had gone swimming off one of Egypt’s Red Sea resorts when a tiger shark emerged in the waters near the city of Hurghada and grabbed him.

Russian media named the deceased as 23-year-old Vladimir Popov.

The nearly minute-long video, which is said to be of the brutal moment, shows Vladimir being suddenly pulled down into the water.

He briefly resurfaces and desperately fights off the shark as they duel in the sea.

He was heard screaming 'papa' as he was dragged to his death (BAZA / East2west News)
The shark was dragged ashore and clubbed to death (Social media/east2west news)

The 23-year-old's body can be seen bobbing up and down in the water, as his legs spin in the air.

The shark's fin and tail are visible as it circles the victim.

Vladimir screams "Papa" and cries out loudly as the shark repeatedly circles and comes back in to attack. But in seconds the water around him goes red.

Another video allegedly shows the tiger shark being caught and dragged ashore by a boat. Seemingly alive, the shark is then clubbed to death.

A diver who arrived on the scene just after the attack said people had rushed to help the victim after a lifeguard from a nearby hotel raised the alarm, but sadly they were too late.

Russian Consul-General Viktor Voropayev told state-owned TASS news agency that the Egyptian authorities had confirmed to him the death of the Russian national who was born in 1999.

"The victim was not a tourist, but a permanent resident of Egypt", Voropayev told the news agency.

The man was seen duelling with the beast before the water turned red (social media / East2west News)
The moment of the attack caught on camera (social media / East2west News)

Tragically, Vladimir's father was on the shore and saw his son's death unfold.

"We went to the beach to relax", Yury Popov told the 112 media outlet.

He continued: "My son was attacked by a shark, it all happened in seconds. What kind of help can you give? This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds, he was just dragged under the water."

Later in the video, one person standing on the shore is heard saying "It is eating his remains now."

"It’s a terrible thing, the remains of this guy are over there. I’m shaking. Right in front of my eyes, the shark ate that guy. I think I need a drink. I feel really bad", a woman told the Telegram channel Baza.

Vladimir's girlfriend managed to escape the water, according to Yury.

One witness told Russian station REN-TV: "It happened in a second. Rescuers reacted very quickly. For some reason, I immediately felt that it was a shark. I immediately jumped up and started shouting: ‘Sharks, sharks! Save yourself!’ Nobody understood yet.'"

Onlookers watch in horror (social media / East2west News)

Such attacks are very rare in the country and the death prompted the Egyptian authorities to close off a 46-mile stretch of the coastline. They said it will remain closed until Sunday.

Authorities say the shark was captured and transferred to a laboratory "for examination and all required information to determine the possible causes of the attack.."

Egypt’s environment ministry confirmed on Facebook that it was a tiger shark that was responsible for the man’s death near the Elysees Dream Beach Hotel at the popular Egyptian resort.

Last July, two women, an Austrian and a Romanian, were killed in a shark attack near Hurghada.

Yury said he would cremate his son and return his ashes to their native Russia.

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