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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Rachel Hagan

Tourist ban on 46 miles of Egypt beaches over clip of man being eaten alive by shark

A vast 46-mile stretch of Egypt's coastline has been placed on lockdown after a man was brutally eaten alive by a 10ft tiger shark in the Red Sea.

Authorities in Hurghada said the sea will remain off-limits with a ban on swimming, snorkelling and other water sports until Sunday, while they investigate what happened.

Such attacks are very rare in the country which is likely why the harsh ban has been imposed.

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

A video too brutal publish shows Vladimir being suddenly pulled down into the water. He briefly resurfaces and desperately fights off the shark as they duel in the sea.

The shark was caught and dragged ashore (Social media/east2west news)
The moment the shark attacked was caught on camera (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.

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.

Horrified onlookers (social media / East2west News)
The shark was hauled from the water (Social media/east2west news)

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

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.'"

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