A tiger shark killed a Russian man swimming at an Egyptian beach filled with people Thursday — including the man’s own father, according to Russian media reports.
A video circulating online that appears to be of the attack shows a huge splash and commotion in the water as the man is dragged under, while terrified onlookers scream for help.
“It’s eating his remains now,” one witness who filmed the incident can be heard saying.
Egypt’s environment ministry reported on Facebook that a tiger shark was responsible for the man’s death near the Dream Beach hotel at the popular Egyptian resort of Hurghada.
Russia’s consul-general in Hurghada, Viktor Voropayev, told local news agency TASS the victim is 23-year-old Russian “V. Popov,” saying he was not a tourist, but had been living in Egypt for several months, The Daily Beast reported.
His name was later revealed to be Vladimir Popov.
Popov’s girlfriend reportedly managed to escape the water unscathed.
Bystanders claimed they tried to help Popov — to no avail.
“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,” a witness told Russia station REN-TV.
“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.
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.” Water activities in the area were restricted until Sunday.
Shark attacks are rare in Red Sea coastal regions, although there were two attacks just days apart last year in Hughada that killed an Austrian and a Romanian tourist.
According to National Geographic, tiger sharks are second to great whites in attacks.
“But because they have a near completely undiscerning palate, they are not likely to swim away after biting a human, as great whites frequently do,” the outlet noted.
