Egypt puts beaches on lockdown after man was killed in shark attack
Egypt puts beaches on lockdown as girlfriend mourns man killed in shark attack in front of his desperate father
- Vladimir Popov, 23, was killed by a tiger shark at Hurghada resort in Egypt
- Authorities have cracked down on snorkeling and swimming following the attack
- His girlfriend has not yet spoken out about the horrific death of her partner
Egypt has put its beaches in lockdown following the brutal shark attack that killed a 23-year-old in front of his desperate father.
Authorities have cracked down on snorkelling, swimming and watersports after Vladimir Popov was mauled to death by a tiger shark at the Hurghada resort in Egypt.
Witnesses say the victim’s now mourning girlfriend had been in the water at the time of the attack, while his helpless father watched from ashore.
The ban will last until tomorrow, with beaches from the northern El-Gouna Resort to the south border of Abu Souma Bay affected.
In a statement, Egypt’s Environment Ministry said: ‘Dr. Yasmin Fouad, the Minister of the Environment, directed the staff specialized in managing the shark attack incident on a pioneer of Hurghada beaches, to apply all policies applied globally to achieve maximum levels of safety for Red Sea shores and to take all possible measures to avoid the repetition of the shark attack incident again.
Vladimir Popov (pictured), 23, was killed by a tiger shark at Hurghada resort in Egypt
READ MORE: Father describes how he was forced to watch helplessly while ‘meat grinder’ tiger shark mauled his son to death
Holidaymakers scrambled from the water as horrified onlookers called out to Vladimir
‘In light of abnormal shark behaviour causing the incident and previous 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 examine it to find out possible causes for the attack and whether it was. Same fish that caused previous accidents.’
The distraught father, Yury Popov, told of his horror while watching his son be pulled apart by the ‘meat grinder’ as he screamed out: ‘Papa, save me!’
Holidaymakers scrambled from the water as horrified onlookers called out to Vladimir to swim away from the shark before he was mauled to death.
The tiger shark was then caught and dragged to land by boat before it was killed.
‘We went to the beach to relax,’ Mr Popov, originally from Russia, told the 112 media outlet. ‘My son was attacked by a shark, it all happened in seconds.’
The heartbroken father said there were no family members near his son to help in the water, though some reports say the 23-year-old’s girlfriend had managed to flee the attack.
‘What kind of help can you give? This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds, he was just dragged under the water,’ Mr Popov said.
‘This is an absolutely ridiculous coincidence, because it is a safe beach. There are ships and yachts around. It’s never happened there. They usually attack on wild beaches. It’s just some kind of evil fate.’
Authorities have cracked down on snorkeling and swimming following the attack
Witnesses say the victim’s girlfriend Anastasia (pictured right) had been in the water at the time of the attack while his helpless father watched from the shore
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
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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.
Video shows the tiger shark being caught and dragged ashore by a boat, and it appeared to be alive before being clubbed to death.
The Egyptian authorities confirmed the shark has been handed over for research to find out the causes of its behaviour and identify whether the animal is related to one that ’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 to speak.
His girlfriend, Anastasia, who is in her early twenties, has so far not spoken of the tragedy.
But one female friend did add 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 that he moved there [to Egypt] with his father.’
Holidaymakers scrambled from the water as horrified onlookers called out to 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 of the tragedy
A distraught woman was seen on the beach being comforted by two other woman moments after Vladimir was mauled to death
READ MORE: Map shows where sharks have savaged swimmers in the Red Sea after tourist was killed
‘As far as I know, he really liked living in Moscow, his whole life was there.
‘Vova was a wonderful person and loved his father very much.’
The horrific attack follows another at Sahl Hasheesh last year that saw 68-year-old Austrian Elisabeth Sauer 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 – is also thought to have been killed in a similar attack just 650ft away from where Ms Sauer died, with her badly 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 film, as onlookers tried to distract the shark and get her to safety.
She reached the shore with the help of a flipper, but died a short time later.
Reports at the time – from news agency AFP and Austrian news outlets – pointed to the attack being committed by a Mako shark, while local Egyptian newspapers named the animal as an Oceanic whitetip shark.
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