Egypt cordons beaches after a man was killed in a shark attack in front of his desperate father

Egypt has closed its beaches after the brutal shark attack that killed a 23-year-old in front of his desperate father.

Authorities cracked down on snorkelling, swimming and water sports after Vladimir Popov was bitten to death by a tiger shark at Egypt’s Hurghada resort.

Witnesses say the victim’s now-grieving girlfriend was in the water at the time of the attack, with his helpless father watching from shore.

The ban lasts until tomorrow, affecting beaches from the northern El-Gouna Resort to the southern border of Abu Souma Bay.

In a statement, Egypt’s Ministry of the Environment said: ‘Dr. Yasmin Fouad, the Minister of the Environment, instructed the staff specializing in the management of the shark attack incident on a pioneer of Hurghada beaches to apply all policies applied globally to ensure a maximum level of safety for the coasts of the Red Sea and to take all possible measures to prevent the recurrence of the shark attack incident again.

“In light of abnormal shark behavior that caused the incident and the prior fact that there have been incidents of attacks on humans by this species in the past, the fishing team examined the fish that caused the incident to investigate possible causes for the attack.” to find out. and whether it was. The same fish that caused previous accidents.’

The distraught father, Yury Popov, recounted his dismay as he saw his son being pulled apart by the “meat grinder” as he cried out, “Dad, save me!”

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, who is from Russia, told the 112 media outlet. “My son was attacked by a shark, it all happened in seconds.”

The heartbroken father said no relatives were near his son to help in the water, although some reports say the 23-year-old’s girlfriend 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 Mr. Popov.

‘This is an absolutely ridiculous coincidence, because it’s 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.”

Authorities cracked 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 as his helpless father watched from the bank

Tourists watched in horror from the shore as the beast wounded Vladimir Popov before dragging him under the water

Tourists watched in horror from the shore as the beast wounded Vladimir Popov before dragging him under the water

Before the horrific attack, Vladimir lived with his father in Egypt for several months.

But Mr. Popov said he would cremate his son and return his ashes to their native Russia.

Video shows the tiger shark being caught and dragged ashore by a boat, appearing to be alive before being bludgeoned to death.

Egyptian authorities have confirmed that the shark has been handed over for investigation to determine the causes of its behavior find out if the animal is related to an animal that has ’caused several previous accidents’.

“Later, the remains were found and the body was put in a bag and taken to the morgue,” he said.

So far, Popov’s father Yury is the only member of the family who speaks.

His girlfriend, Anastasia, who is in her early twenties, has not spoken about the tragedy until now.

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.’

Vacationers scrambled out of the water as shocked onlookers shouted for Vladimir (pictured) to swim away from the shark before it was mauled

Vladimir’s girlfriend Anastasia, who is in her early twenties, has not spoken about the tragedy until now

A distraught woman was seen on the beach being comforted by two other women shortly after Vladimir was killed by a car

“As far as I know, he really liked living in Moscow, all his life was there.

“Vova was a wonderful person and loved his father very much.”

The horrific attack follows another in Sahl Hasheesh last year, in which 68-year-old Austrian Elisabeth Sauer was mauled 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 reported to have been killed in a similar attack just 200 yards away from where Ms 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.