A tiger shark on Thursday killed a Russian man swimming at an Egyptian beach packed with people, including the man’s own father, according to Russian media.
A video circulating online who appears to be from the attack shows a huge splash and commotion in the water as the man is dragged under, while terrified onlookers scream for help.
“He’s eating his leftovers now,” a witness who filmed the incident can be heard saying.
The Egyptian Ministry of the Environment made a report on Facebook that a tiger shark was responsible for the man’s death near the Elysees Dream Beach hotel in the popular Egyptian resort of Hurghada.
Russian Consul General in Hurghada Viktor Voropayev told local news agency CASS the victim is a 23-year-old Russian “V. Popov”, saying that 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.
Passers-by claimed to have tried to help Popov, to no avail.
“It happened in a second. The rescuers reacted very quickly. For some reason, I immediately felt it was a shark. I immediately jumped up and started shouting: ‘Sharks, sharks! ‘Run away!’ No one has figured it out yet,” a witness told the Russian station. REN-TV.
“It’s a terrible thing, the remains of this guy are over there. I’m shaking. Right before my eyes, the shark ate this guy. I think I need a drink. I feel really bad, ”said a woman at the Baza telegram channel.
Authorities say the shark was captured and transferred to a laboratory “for examination and all information necessary to determine the possible causes of the attack”. Water activities in the area have been restricted until Sunday.
Shark attacks are rare in the Red Sea coastal regions, although there were two attacks within days of each other last year in Hurghada that killed an Austrian tourist and a Romanian.
According National geographictiger sharks are second only to great whites in attacking humans.
“But because they have an almost completely indiscreet palate, they are not likely to swim away after biting a human, as tall whites often do,” the outlet noted.