A shark has been hunted down and killed after devouring a Russian tourist in front of a shocked crowd at a beach in Egypt.
Footage of the tragic incident was captured and shared across social media, which showed the man - who is reported to have been 23-year-old Vladimir Popov - being mauled by a shark before being pulled underwater.
The Mirror detailed that Popov was possibly on a long stay in Egypt to avoid conscription to Putin's war in Ukraine, though this hasn't been confirmed by any outlet. He had moved to a Red Sea Resort with his father - who was watching the fatal attack - several months ago.
Popov desperately shouted: "Papa, Papa," as he struggled with the shark.
One witness was heard in one of the videos to be saying: "The shark's eating his remains now, there she is, eating his remains."
Another said: "Right in front of my eyes, the shark ate the guy, the girl managed to escape. He took the blow from the shark, it's a terrible thing, the remains of this man are lying there."
"Oh my God, Oh my God…" another woman repeated again and again, watching the horrific sight in front of her. Others could be heard in the background screaming: "Swim away, swim away! Quick! A shark!"
Egypt's environment ministry said the man was killed on Thursday (June 8) after being attacked by a tiger shark in the waters near the city of Hurghada. Authorities had closed off a 46-mile stretch of the coastline, announcing it would remain off-limits until the weekend.
The ministry later said it had caught and killed the shark and was examining it in a laboratory to try and determine the reasons for the rare attack, The Guardian detailed.
A diver who arrived on the scene just after the attack said people had rushed to help Popov after a lifeguard from a nearby hotel raised the alarm, but were sadly not able to reach him in time, and were filmed arriving at the scene just after Popov was pulled underwater for the last time.
While shark attacks are rare in the Red Sea region, two women were killed in 2022 within days of each other in the same spot as Popov died.
Tiger sharks are large species that reside in tropical and temperate waters, and according to the International Shark Attack File they are among the shark species most cited for unprovoked attacks on humans.
