Egypt has put its beaches on lockdown following the brutal shark attack that killed a 23-year-old in front of his desperate father.
Authorities have cracked down on snorkeling, swimming and water sports after Vladimir Popov was mauled to death by a tiger shark in the resort town of Hurghada in Egypt.
Witnesses say the victim’s now grieving girlfriend was in the water at the time of the attack, while her helpless father watched from the shore.
The ban will last until tomorrow, with beaches north of the resort town of El-Gouna to the southern border of Abu Souma Bay affected.
In a statement, the Egyptian Ministry of Environment said: “Dr. Yasmin Fouad, the Minister of Environment, has ordered personnel specialized in handling the shark attack incident on a beach pioneer in ‘Hurghada, to implement all globally enforced policies to achieve maximum levels of safety for the Red Sea coasts and to take all possible measures to avoid the recurrence of the shark attack incident at new.
Vladimir Popov (pictured), 23, was killed by a tiger shark in the resort town of Hurghada in Egypt
“In light of the abnormal behavior of the sharks leading to the incident and the fact that there have been attacks on humans by this species in the past, the fishing team examined the fish under origin of the incident to examine it in order to discover the possible causes of the attack. and if so. The same fish that caused the previous accidents.
Distraught father Yury Popov recounted his horror as he watched his son being torn apart by the ‘meat grinder’ as he cried, ‘Daddy, save me!’
Holidaymakers scrambled out of the water as horrified onlookers called on Vladimir to swim away from the shark before he was mauled to death.
The tiger shark was then captured and dragged ashore by boat before being killed.
“We went to the beach to relax,” Mr Popov, from Russia, told news outlet 112. “My son was attacked by a shark, it all happened in seconds.”
The heartbroken dad said there were no family members near his son to help him in the water, although some reports say the 23-year-old’s girlfriend managed to flee the attack.
“What kind of help can you provide? This meat grinder arrived in 20 seconds, it was just dragged underwater,” Mr Popov said.
“It’s an absolutely ridiculous coincidence, because it’s a safe beach. There are boats and yachts around. It never happened there. They usually attack wild beaches. It’s just some kind of bad fate.
Authorities clamped down on snorkeling and swimming after the attack
Witnesses say the victim’s girlfriend Anastasia (pictured right) was in the water at the time of the attack while her helpless father watched from the shore
Tourists watched in horror from the shore as the beast injured Vladimir Popov before dragging him underwater
Tourists watched in horror from the shore as the beast injured Vladimir Popov before dragging him underwater
Vladimir had been living with his father in Egypt for several months before the horrific attack.
But Mr Popov said he would cremate his son and return his ashes to their native Russia.
The video shows the tiger shark being captured and dragged ashore by a boat, and it appeared to be alive before it was bludgeoned to death.
Egyptian authorities confirmed that the shark had been handed over to research to discover the causes of its behavior and identify if the animal is related to the one that “caused several previous accidents”.
“Later the remains were found and the body was bagged and taken to the morgue,” he said.
So far, Popov’s father, Yury, is the only family member to speak.
His girlfriend, Anastasia, who is in her early twenties, has not yet spoken of the drama.
But a friend added that Vladimir was a “good guy” who loved his father very much.
He was only a month away from his birthday,” she said. ”Friends say he moved there [to Egypt] with his father.’
Holidaymakers scrambled out of the water as horrified onlookers called on Vladimir (pictured) to swim away from the shark before he was mauled to death
Vladimir’s girlfriend Anastasia, who is in her early twenties, has so far not spoken about the tragedy
A distraught woman was seen on the beach being comforted by two other women moments after Vladimir was mauled to death
“As far as I know, he really liked living in Moscow, his whole life was there.
“Vova was a wonderful person and loved her father very much.”
The horrific attack follows another in Sahl Hasheesh last year which saw 68-year-old Austrian Elisabeth Sauer maimed in front of horrified onlookers at a resort in Sahl Hasheesh – 30 minutes from Hurghada, where Vladimir was killed.
A second woman – identified only as a Romanian national in her 40s – was also believed to have been killed in a similar attack just 650ft from where Ms Sauer died, with her severely disfigured remains found on a nearby reef the same day.
Ms Sauer lost an arm and a leg in an attack that was caught on camera as onlookers tried to distract the shark and drag her to safety.
She reached shore using a flipper, but died soon after.
Reports at the time – from the AFP news agency and Austrian media – said the attack was carried out by a mako shark, while local Egyptian newspapers referred to the animal as an oceanic shark.
